


The Man with the Blue Eyes

by Sinammon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Attempt at Humor, BAMF Harry, BAMF Rick Grimes, Blood and Gore, But they all have issues, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Cliche, Dubious Consent, Fluff, Heavy Drinking, Lori Bashing, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Zombie Apocalypse, Potential Xenophobia, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slash, Some Anyway That Fits, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2019-07-16 08:01:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 51,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16081892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinammon/pseuds/Sinammon
Summary: Meeting the man Luna sent him out to find was easy, but growing attached to the man with the blue eyes did not sit well with Harry. It does not help that trouble seems to love the both of them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd, don't expect perfect grammar and/or spelling. It's a slash. And I don't own either of the shows listed above.

 

_ “The time where the sun no longer parlays with life, and death is brimming in the night.” Luna whispers against Harry’s right shoulder. “It plagues the brain and infests the mind, kills the owner, nothing left behind. Seek the man with the blue eyes, eyes that belong to the sky.” _

 

_ Seek the man with the blue eyes _

_ Seek the man with the blue eyes _

_ Seek the man with the- _

 

“Seek the man with the blue eyes, she said. Eyes that belong to the sky, she said. How in Merlin’s beard am I supposed to rule out three-hundred million men, women, and children for a man with blue eyes?” Harry ranted, sticking his travelling staff into the ground. “Morgana’s tits, Luna, you’re leading me on a wild goose chase.” 

 

It also did not help that majority of the men, women, and children mentioned were possibly dead. The apocalypse was not so kind to humanity, so finding the man would be like looking for a needle in the haystack. A one and millionth chance in possibly finding the man with the  _ blue eyes, eyes that belong to the sky _ . 

 

He looked ahead where his eyes surveyed the worn down hospital ahead of him.  _ Harrison Memorial Hospital  _ did not bode well with Harry, especially the word  _ memorial  _ having to be adjacent to the word  _ hospital _ . This was, as Luna explained, the last known location where the man he’s been searching for has been. 

 

“Merlin be damned. The smell.” Harry coughed, covering his mouth with a piece of cloth. “Well. Luna, I’m here. But I do not think he’s here.”

* * *

Rick subconsciously realized the world around him went into a pile of shit. His son Carl. His precious, doe-eyed son was God knows  _ where _ in this shitty ass world. Seeing shit he isn’t supposed to so young, or even worse, walking around with  _ them _ . People who were once people now eating anything they can find that still moves and breathes.

 

He walked towards the bedroom he shared with Lori. The only cherished memory they shared was the night they conceived Carl, and soon after that their love died. They started fighting often, screaming and throwing things at each other. She threatened to get a divorce, but they eventually worked it out for Carl. Everything for Carl. 

 

And now, Rick can no longer forgive himself if anything happened to his son. 

 

He does not know how much time has passed by, but it felt likes weeks since he saw anyone that wasn’t eating anything. Morgan helped, given the man’s child basically smashed his head over with a shovel. It was a good wake up call from his delusions but it gave him a concussion for a couple of days. Soon enough, they parted ways on good terms after gathering some supplies at his department up in King County for some guns and ammo. 

 

They still keep in contact if a bit one-sided. He gave Morgan the other walkie-talkie so he could give him a report of some sort, giving him information about what has happened so far in his trek in finding his family. Talking to the man even if Morgan does not respond lifted a burden from Rick’s chest, and it felt good. 

 

On horseback, Rick surveyed the area when he saw something peculiar. He doffed his hat after dismounting from the horse, pressing his weight on the balls of his feet to muffle his steps. Before him was a man standing at the edge of the highway he was passing by on his way to Atlanta. A large stick in his right hand  and no weapons, oddly. He had a backpack, medium length raven hair, and a cloak over his small build. 

 

“Sir?” Rick called out. “Are you alright? It isn’t safe around these parts, especially close to the city.” 

 

“I’ve noticed. There are people walking around eating people.” A british accent responded. The man turned around, emerald eyes blinking at Rick. For a second Rick swore the man looked shock to see him, but the face grew impassive before Rick could interpret it. 

 

“Then why don’t you step off the edge?” Rick asked politely, eyes drawn to the man’s own. “We can talk this through.”

 

“Talk what through?” Then the man realized where he was. “I’m not committing suicide if that is what you’re thinking. I’m just looking at the carnage.” 

 

“You don’t have to be so close to the edge to look out the city.” Rick raised a brow. “Are you hurt, any?”

 

“No,” the man shakes his head. “Officer…”

 

“Rick Grimes. Deputy Sheriff, or was anyway.” Rick introduced himself.

 

“Nice to meet you, officer friendly. Names Harry Black.” Harry gave him a small smile and proffered his hand, which Rick took. “Is there any reason why you are going into the city, even if you already know it's dangerous?” 

 

“My kid and my wife is still out there, and I want to find them.” Rick admitted.

 

“That is a noble goal. In fact I am looking for someone as well.” Harry said. “But he’s not as important as your family, if you allow me to aid you on your  _ noble quest _ .” 

 

“And why should I accept a request from a stranger? All I know you could stab me in the back and take my shit.” Rick walked closer to Harry. “Why should I trust you?”

 

Harry gave the older man a wink. “You shouldn’t trust me.” He said, hopping off the ledge. “And your smart enough to realize that, but I will not kill, nor lay a hand on you. Trust me on  _ that _ . I don’t think I have the sense to kill someone in cold blood. Plus, I do not have any weapons aside from my staff, I don’t really think I prove to be a stalwarty enemy.” 

 

Point taken, Rick thought. 

 

“We should go through the traffic jam on foot, a horse would probably draw too much attention to ourselves. And I do not feel like becoming a meal, and so do you I assume?”

 

“You assume correctly.” Rick said walking towards the horse. “ _ Go home, pal _ .” He whispered against the horse’s mane after giving it a few pats on the neck. Fortunately, the horse began walking towards the end of the road and into the valley. 

 

“Animal whisperer, are you?” Harry asked cheekily.

 

“Shut up.” Rick grumbled with a small smirk on his lips. “We should get going while we still have light.” 

 

“Aye, aye captain!”

 

“Bloody hell…” Harry whispered. “I’ll never get over this.”

 

“The dead?” Rick asked, curious since Harry hasn’t really made a comment about killing a walker. 

 

Harry had watched Rick shoot a little girl with her stuffed animal clutched in her hands. “No. That this  _ thing  _ spares no one. Not even children, it seems.” Harry said. “We should keep moving.” 

 

“Good idea.” He follows Harry along the road. “So what brought you here to Georgia?”

 

Harry raised an inquisitive brow. “A friend nudged me along the way. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here. Knowing her, she probably would say something about being destined.” He says. “Now since we are confessing, why weren’t you with your family during this whole catastrophe?”

 

Rick scratched the back of his head before responding. “Before all this, there was a high-speed pursuit in Linden County where a couple of crooks were armed. We barricaded en route, and it turned to a massive shootout. I got shot and was in bed when God finally kicked the bucket.” 

 

“I’m sorry, Rick.” Harry says. 

 

“There was a man after I came out of the hospital, Morgan was his name. He helped me with everything that had happened, knock the shit out of me and made me realize that it ain’t what it used to be before I got shot.” Rick says looking at Harry now, stopping. “What did you do before all this?”

 

“A doctor, or what people used to call me back in England, a healer.” Harry smirked. “There were lots of fighting back in Britain, and I grew sick of death. So I made an oath and stuck to the living. It doesn’t help when there’s nothing but dead people walking, though.” 

 

“Didn’t stop you from giving up.” Rick complimented.

 

Harry gave him a bright smile.

 

“There are a lot of things keeping me from giving up, but thank you.”

* * *

_...seek the man with the blue eyes, eyes that belong to the sky. For no one survives the Almighty’s ire, for everything may soon end in wildfire. _


	2. The Road Not Taken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place in between S1E02 "Guts" and S1E03 "Tell it to the Frogs." The next few chapters is a part of a really big prologue because I really just want to set the story and the decision making in S2 where everything actually goes to shit. Don't worry we'll get there. Unbeta'd, still slash lol, and I don't own shit.

Harry watched all the patients come and go from St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Each and every patient, Harry recognized. Dean, Neville, Hannah, Daphne, Draco… every single one of these patients were Harry schoolmates. He recognized they had a similar injury. A bite. A bite on their torso, their waist, their neck, their arm, their leg… But it was not the bite itself that made Harry wary, it was the exposed flesh. They looked miserable, especially the pregnant Daphne Greengrass who was crying in pain. Although he could mollify their pain as much as possible, he was bound by oath to save each and everyone of them. Even if he thinks it's useless.

Confound his hero complex.

“They keep piling in…” Harry whispered. Madam Pomfrey glanced over after writing in the ledger, placing her hands on the weary man’s left shoulder. 

“Mister Potter, they’re going to be okay. Although I spent majority of my time as the mediwitch back in Hogwarts, these types of injuries are quite common than you originally think, my boy. How do you think I was never fazed whenever you appeared in my infirmary?”

“Because you see me each and every time I do something stupid.” Harry sighs. “But look at them, Pomfrey. Exposed flesh. Bites on their limbs, their torso. What does this bite indicate? Where did they receive such a bite in the first place? When I checked over Draco, his whole shoulder was ripped off and a fever set in. I gave him a blood-replenishing potion and casted a stasis so I could heal his most severe wounds. But the bite. The bite won’t go away, it won’t  _ heal _ .”

Madam Pomfrey just gave him a grandmotherly look and squeezed his shoulder tightly, a forced smile etched on her wizened face. “Their going to be okay. The bite might be caused by an inferi. It's very common for an Auror such as Draco to encounter such dark creatures.” 

“If you’re sure. But what of Lady Greengrass or Dean? They’re both not a part of the Auror force, nor are they anyone dealing with dark magic. Dean’s an artist. Lady Greengrass is pregnant.” Harry explained rather fervently. When Madam Pomfrey did not give a response, Harry sighed.  “I will take a look at Lady Greengrass”

Walking through the barely lit corridor in St. Mungo’s, Harry watched as even more patients were being floated in each minute. His eyes remained when he saw a tuft of red hair being floated in, but he shook his head. When he finally reached Lady Greengrass’s room, Lady Greengrass herself was not there. Instead, a gnarly figure of a once beautiful, callous woman plumped with life stood over the bed, body wrapped in white scrubs, shoulders hunched over. 

Her hands were perched against her distended belly, and her long hair hooded her face. Harry watched the woman raise her head, glancing over at Harry. Her once piercing green eyes were clouded over by death. When she caught sight of Harry, Harry’s eyes widened a bit. A snarl came from her mouth, snarling at him before she advanced towards the Boy-Who-Lived, hands raised. 

~

Harry blinked. 

He watched as a man with a bald, gray head beat a man with dark skin. He stood over the african-american’s body with a cocky smirk on his face, calling this whole spiel a democracy. Then he watched his newly found friend intervene and incapacitate the bald man, butting his head with a hunting rifle and punching him in the face in before handcuffing him against the rusting pipe. 

Rick held the man at gunpoint. “Things are different now. No dumb-as-shit, inbred white-trash fools either. Only dark meat and white meat.” he tells the man. “There’s  _ us  _ and the dead. We survive this by pulling, not apart.” He held a gun against the man’s head.

“Screw you, man.” The bald man curses.

“I can see you make a habit of missing the point.” He says exasperatedly.

“Yeah? Well screw you twice.” 

Rick cocked the man’s gun. “Ought to be polite to a man with a gun. Only common sense.” He whispers darkly. 

“You wouldn’t.” The man smirked. “You’re a cop.”

Rick presses the muzzle harder against the man’s temple, lowering it just slightly. “All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son. Anybody that gets in the way of that is gonna lose. I’ll give you a moment to think about that, as you’re probably gonna need more time to process the words coming out of my mouth.” He snarls. 

“Rick I believe you done enough damage, why don’t you leave him alone?” Harry asked politely, interrupting Rick’s frisking.

“And who’s this?”

“He’s the man who just saved you from getting your stash taken away from you.” Rick snarled at the handcuffed man. “Gotta little of it on your face.”

“Fuck you, man.”

Rick rolled his eyes and walked off with Morales following suit. 

“Your friend always packing heat like that, man?” The guy who was beaten silly just a moment prior asked. “Shit, I respect anyone that shuts that racist ratbag up any day.” 

Harry turned slightly and gave a small smile to the man and the woman tending to his wounds. “I’ve never really experienced his type of violent episodes so it was just as much of an experience for myself, personally. Are you okay?”

“My face may look bruised but Merle’s pussy arms are fucking weaker than his bark.” The stranger says with a light southern drawl. “Names Theodore but people call me T-Dog. I didn’t catch your name.”

“You didn’t. Names Harry Black.”

“Nice to meet you. This is Jacqui, and you probably met Glenn. That’s Andrea over there.” The two ladies gave a small wave before refocusing on whatever they were doing. “Morales is with your friend, and you already met that handcuffed, racist scumbag.” 

Harry snorted. “Nice to meet all of you.”

Morales and Rick walked back, the hispanic-american bent down and placed a comforting hand on T-Dog’s shoulder. “How’s that signal, T?” T-Dog looked down.

“Like Dixon’s brain - weak.” He snorted to himself as Merle flipped him off. 

“Keep trying.” Morales assured before turning towards Rick. “Got some people outside the city is all. There’s no refugee center. That’s a pipe dream.”

“Well it didn’t help when you two were running.” Andrea crossed her arms together. “Got all these piece of shits scattered all over the place.”

“That was the only way.” Rick tried. “There was nothing else to do unless you wanted me to shoot everything we see.” 

Andrea scoffs and walks away angrily. 

“We’re on our own. It’s up to us to find a way out.” Rick says with two fingers against the bridge of his nose.

Merle gave a laugh. “Good luck with that. These streets ain’t safe in this part of town from what I hear.” Then he turns his head slightly. “Ain’t that right, sugar tits? Hey, Honeybunch, what say you get me out of these cuffs; we go off somewhere and bump some uglies? Gonna die anyway.” 

Harry raised a brow, but the woman seemed to stand her own ground. 

“I’d rather,” she deadpans and walks away.

“Rug muncher. I figured as much.” Merle said before going completely silent. 

“The streets ain’t safe. The understatement of the century.” Morales scoffed. “Glenn, you see anything?”

“Random geeks lurking about, why?” Glenn inquired.

“You see any manhole covers?”

“No, must be all out on the street where the geeks are.”

Jacqui blinked, realizing something. “Maybe not. Old building like this built in the twenties. Big structures often had drainage tunneled into the sewers in case of flooding down in the sub basements.” 

Glenn quirked his head. “How do you know that?” Looking flabbergasted a bit, Jacqui gave the asian a small smile.

“It’s my job - was. I worked in the city zoning office.”

~

“Well that’s handy, ain’t it?” Harry commented. “Looks like it goes under the streets, but I don’t doubt there are those who waited it out under here. Oh and there’s the smell.” He backed away from the steep stairwell a bit. Still, Harry was not used to the smell of decay.

“This is it? Are you sure?” Morales asked, patting Harry’s shoulders in pity. “You okay, amigo?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just still not used to the smell.”

“I hear yah.” Andrea says. 

“I really scoped this place out the other times I was here. It’s the only thing in the building that goes down. But I’ve never gone down it. And if what Harry said was correct, there might be some geeks under there.”

“We don’t know that.” Rick said. “And you and Harry are small enough to slip through there. Harry’s quick.” 

“Oh. Great.” Both Harry and Glenn said in unison, much to the amusement of the people around them. 

“We’ll be right behind the both of you.” Andrea assured, pitifully in Harry’s opinion. 

“No, you won’t. Not any of you, just me and Harry.” Glenn shook his head, unaware that he unintentionally insulted the woman.

“Why not me? Think I can’t?” She asks offensively. 

“I wasn’t - “ He stutters.

“Speak your mind, kid.” Rick said in that demanding tone Harry would sometimes hear when they were trekking towards Atlanta. 

“I’m not a kid.” Glenn scoffs. “Look, until now I always came here by myself - in and out, grab a few things - no problem! The first time I bring a group - everything goes to hell. No offense. If you want me and Harry to go down this gnarly hole, fine - but only if we do it my way. If we run into something and have to get out quick, I don’t want you all jammed up behind me getting us both killed. You said that Harry’s quick, I’ll hold you to that Officer Friendly. But, I want you two,” he points to Rick and Andrea.”I want you two to watch those doors covering our asses. Jacqui and Morales, stay here. Something happens, yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry.”

“Okay.” Jacqui and Morales agrees.

“Okay everybody knows their jobs.” Rick pulled Harry aside for a second. “Be careful down there.”   
“Don’t worry for me Rick, worry about getting back to your family.” Harry says with a smile. 

Rick nodded and left after patting Glenn’s shoulder reassuredly. Glenn bobbed his head slightly before placing his flashlight in his mouth, descending into the depths with Harry following suit. 

“So Harry, been with Rick long?” Glenn asked conversationally, which amused the brit a bit.

“We met each other on the highway leading into Atlanta, got to know each other before we reached the city. In before we met up with you after the tank fiasco, I believe I only stayed with Rick for a good few hours, maybe even longer.” Harry admitted. “Other than that, my initial impression is Rick’s a nice guy, if a bit naive.”

“What do you me-”

“You two should be looking for a way out and not having a pep talk down there.” Jacqui reminds with, was that amusement? Her echoes carries a lot of things, but Harry could not really pinpoint any. “You two could save this conversation  _ after  _ finding a way out.”

“She’s right,” Glenn said a bit sheepishly. Harry responded with an amused smile, pointing his flashlight near the wall. 

They continued following the tunnel until they heard a noticeable splash. Glenn quickly swerved his flashlight towards the side, only to be met with a rat. Backing away slightly in fear, Glenn accidentally stepped on another rat which elicited a frightened squeal from the critter… and Glenn.

“Dah!” 

Harry couldn’t stifle his laughter any longer. 

“Shut up Harry! I just don’t like rats.” Glenn almost pouted. “C’mon we gotta keep going.”

“Let’s just avoid stepping on rats, shall we?”

~

“Is that it over there?” Harry pointed his flashlight towards a gated cell. “It seems Jacqui was right about this leading towards the sewers.” 

The brit snorts when he glances at Glenn behind him. It seemed he frightened more rats if his countenance was anything to go by. 

“Are you okay, rat boy?”

“Shut up Harry.” Glenn pouted. “You think we can cut through this?”

“I don’t think so, unless we had something to blow the gasket. I think I may have something in my backpack.” Harry said. He unstrapped his backpack and grabbed something from the smaller pockets on the front. “Aha! Got it!”

“What is a stone gonna do? Are you gonna beat the metal with it, have you played Pokemon?”

Harry quirked his head. “What? No. And what’s Pokemon?” He asked confusedly.

“Never mind. So what are you going to do with that rock?”

“Well-”  

Before he even advanced towards the metal bars, a walker sprung at them abruptly while holding a half-eaten rat in his hands. Harry looked a bit flabbergasted, calming down when the metal bars prevented the offending walker from making them into a potential meal.

"Never mind. We should go.”

Harry watched as Glenn keeled over, holding his chest. The poor thing looked ready to puke. “Good idea.” His voice sounded hoarse.

~

“You guys found a way out?” Rick asked after they proceeded towards the roof to reconvene.

Glenn shook his head. “No, metal bars blocked us from going further into the tunnel. But Jacqui was right, the subbasement leads to the sewage system.”

“Can we cut through them?”

“Well, Harry tried to beat it with a rock…” Glenn said, glancing at Harry then at Rick who had this weird fixation on Harry. While the man in question shot a glare at Glenn for ratting him out.

“You tried to beat it with a rock?”

“I wasn’t going to beat it with a rock.” Harry scoffed.

“Then what were you going to do with that rock?”

“Nothing, it was a stupid idea. Anyway,  _ I  _ was right as well. The dead also inhabits the sewers. Although we’ve seen one, there might be many close behind.” Harry says. “Have you guys figured something out on your end?”

Rick pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose again. It’s becoming a habit, Harry noticed. “There’s a construction site with trucks  - they always keep their keys on hand. So it might be our chance to leave Atlanta. But it’s full of the dead. I was thinking we could distract it. So, Glenn, can we distract them? You got us out of the tank.”

“But you distracted the hoard by smashing the farthest window. And still, some walkers avoided following them.” 

“Can we distract them again, but discreetly?” Harry asked, looking at Glenn as Merle piped up.

“Right. Listen to the pish-posh Brit. He’s onto something. A diversion, like on “Hogan’s Heroes.”

“God. Give it a rest.”

“They’re drawn by sound right?” Rick asked catching on when Harry shot him a sharp look. 

Glenn nodded. “Right, like dogs. They hear sound, they come.”

“What else?” Harry asked, leaning on the half-wall.

“Aside from they hear you? They see you, smell you and if they catch you, they eat you.” Morales said.

“They can tell us by smell?”   
  
“Can’t you?”

“They smell dead, we don’t. It’s pretty distinct.” Andrea says, looking between Harry and Rick.

“Then we might have to smell like the dead.” Harry sighs divesting his cloak and throwing it on the side. “What? I don’t want it to be dirty.”

“What do you mean dirty?” Glenn asked already feeling this foreboding sense of horror about to reveal itself. “Harry?”

“Think about it Glenn. How are we going to avoid a herd of geeks without attracting them by sound or smell?” Harry raised his arms up in the air exasperatedly when Glenn gave him a blank stare. “You know that old adage? To know your enemy, you must become your enemy. And in this case we’re bathing in walker guts in order to mask our distinct smell, as Andrea aptly put it. Thus becoming our enemy.” 

“Oh. Shit.” Glenn said after realizing what Harry meant. “That sounds- no, ew.”

“There’s no other way. You think we can snag one of them from that place you got us through?” Rick asked a wan Glenn.

“Yeah. Yeah. We can.” The asian boy nods.

“Then we better get started.” Harry says. “It seems the weather isn’t holding up.”

~

“Madre dios!” 

Whatever Morales was saying, Harry agrees. It was one thing shooting a walker’s head, and another thing prying them open. They looked like a ragabond group of people waiting to feast on this one decayed person. But Harry was even more disgusted when they started smearing the entrails all over Glenn’s body. It made him almost keel over when Andrea wrapped intestines around Glenn’s neck like a scarf. 

Harry was not a stranger to severe wounds where flesh was exposed or a bone popped somewhere it should not. He, however, did not like how squishy the inside of a human being was, and never did. So he thanked Merlin he was a mediwizard and used spells in order to be rid of someone’s malign problems.

“Oh dear sweet Merlin…”

“Dios! That is disgusting.” 

“It’s what we gotta do.” Rick assured Harry when the latter started smearing the decaying entrails all over the white lab coat he had on. “You shouldn’t be a stranger to this, Harry. You said you were a doctor.”

Harry rubbed his nose with his shoulder. “I am a doctor. I’m just not used to digging through a corpse for buried treasure...” 

Rick chuckled. “I’m sorry I have to put you through this. And we’ve only just met.”

The wizard shook his head. “I mean if smearing dead stuff all over you is a sign of friendship, well you received it ten times over.” He chuckles. “Nah. If it helps us escape this place, then I’m all for it.” Harry reassured with a tiny, a bit forced, smile.

“How do you do that?” Rick asks.    
Quirking his head, Harry stared at Rick. “What do you mean?”

“How do you keep smiling like that? Even when, you know, you’re rubbing dead body fluids all over me.” 

Harry’s smile dimmed down for a second before it brightened. “When I was growing up, I didn’t have much of anything to smile about. Though the apocalypse was not ideal, smiling gives me something to live for, it leaves the presence of humanity. Because with the state of the environment nowadays, it isn’t the time to lose our humanity. Imagine a world where no one expresses their thoughts through valid emotions, imagine a time where we lost all semblance of happiness. What is the point of living? If I were to ever give you the full background of my life pre-apocalypse, you would expect I would become socially retarded and ostracized, but I chose not to succumb to it. Because I kept smiling.” Harry says.

Rick nodded. “Valid answer.” He gave a small smirk when Harry chortled. 

“And all done.” Harry grimaced. “You’re gored up, my dear.”

“Thanks Harry.”

“Your welcome,” he hissed. “Now get away from me.”

Rick smirked at the Brit then his eyes went to Glenn. “You ready?”

“No. I-I mean, yeah.”

~

“Oh shit…” Morales cursed. “Come on, come on.” 

As Harry predicted, the weather barely held up long enough for Rick and Glenn’s arrival at the construction site while avoiding the dead. Now it started storming out of nowhere, and Harry could see the dead not buying into the dirty tricks they played. The rain washed Rick’s and Glenn’s ‘camouflage’ away, and now the dead is trying to grab at them. If Harry wasn’t so far away and if the dead weren’t congregating in one area, he would be able to help them out by apparating; or at least use a spell in order to support them. Either way Harry wanted to help. 

He sighed in relief when he watched with Morales’ binoculars. He watched as Rick threw his axe over the fence and leaped over the barrier with Glenn following suit. 

“They made it, they made it.” Harry smiled. 

Morales took the binoculars back after Harry handed it to him. “Seriously?” 

“Yeah, they made it in.” Harry said nodding.

But Andrea caught something else without the aid of the binoculars. Just beyond them over at the construction site, the cube truck Rick revved to life broke through the gates, and went the opposite direction. Harry’s eyes widened in this mild state of confusion. Where are they going?

“Are they leaving us?” Andrea asked. Harry turned quickly. “They’re leaving us.”

“What? What?”    
“No no, come back!” 

“They’re going to come back. I don’t think Rick’s that type of person to just abandon us.” Harry reassured even though he can feel that slither of doubt hissing in his ears. “Hopefully…” He mutters. 

~

Moments later, a car started blaring it’s alarm. The sound echoed all over Atlanta, garnering the attention of every other geek around the general area. After a few seconds, T-Dog’s CB perked up. 

‘ _ Those roll-up doors at the front of the store facing the street - meet us there and be ready!”  _ Glenn said over the CB.

The first one to go was Jacqui. “Come on! Let’s go, let’s go!” Morales exclaimed, bolting down the stairs with his backpack wrapped around his shoulder.

“Hey you can’t leave me here!” Merle yelped when the rest of the other survivors picked up their packs and started bolting towards the door. “I’m not fooling, man! Morales! Hey, man! Don’t do this! Come on. Hey, that’s my gun. You can’t leave me. Don’t leave me here, you guys.”

Andrea looked at Merle. “Morales, come on.” And they both bolted down the stairs, descending from the roof. 

Merles begging heeded T-Dog’s advances.

“Hey, T-Dog. No, man. You can’t leave me, man. You can’t leave me here. Not like this. You can’t man. It’s not human. Come on, don’t do this.” Merle begged. 

Harry watched everything happen before his eyes. T-Dog, bless his soul, went to unlock the handcuffs, but the man tripped over the tool bag left abandoned on the floor near Merle. The keys flew out of his hands across the roof right towards a drain pipe. 

“Son of a bitch! You did that on purpose!”

“I didn’t mean to!” 

T-Dog glances at Harry who was staring at the drain pipe. “C’mon Harry we gotta go!” 

“No, no, Harry, c’mon! I know we just met but you got tiny fingers, can you reach into that drain pipe over there to grab the key?” Merle begged.

“We can’t just leave him, T!” Harry tells the man who was close to the roof’s exit. 

“I dropped the key man!” T-Dog reminds the brit. “It’s useless! We can’t get him.”

Harry thought for a moment. “Then you go down, I’ll lock the door so that they won’t get him.” Harry says. “Go, T!”

“What about you, man?” T-Dog asks his hands shaking.

“I’ll find another way. Just go!” 

T-Dog turns to Merle, head bowed down. “I’m sorry.” 

The wizard watched as the African-American man bolts down the stairs. With a wave of his hands, the doors closed suddenly and locked. Harry sighs.. Cursing inwardly for what he is about to do, he bent down to Merle’s level. With a flick of his wrist, his wand came forth. 

“You fucking bastard! Black fucking bastard! I’ll fucking kill each and every one of y-” Harry cut him off with a silencing charm. 

“What I am about to do cannot be shared with the others. And once you’re free, you run. You do not tell this to anyone, am I understood?” Harry demands, his eyes pinning Merle with a glare. He rolled his eyes and cancelled the silencing charm when he noticed the man could not speak.

“What the fuck did you just do to me? You some kind of voodoo mistress, huh? What is a fucking stick gonna do?” 

He points his wand at the lock. “ _ Alohomora _ .” With a clink, the handcuffs fell off Merle’s hands. “Stand up and get out.” 

The man looked equally startled and equally determined to get out. He gave a small nod in Harry’s direction, probably in thanks. Grabbing the bag full of tools, Merle forced the door opened and tied a chain against the handle before he sprinted down the steps. Hopefully Rick stayed for just a moment. If not, Harry potentially foredoomed Merle.

“Well, it seems I will have to find my own way out.” Harry says when Merle descended down the stairs. “First things first…  _ Accio Rick’s bag! _ ” 

He remembered Rick dropped a bag when they were escaping the hoard. A couple of seconds later, a bag flew straight towards the wizard. He outstretched his arms and with his seeker reflexes, caught the bag before it could hit him on the side. But he almost fell over when the weight of the bag practically slammed into the ground. With a heavy sigh, he casted a feather-light charm to alleviate the heavy weight. 

He donned on his cloak before wrapping the bag around his shoulders. He placed his wand on the palm of his hand, and with intent, the wand floated into the air pointing towards the direction in which Rick drove towards. 

“I wonder if the man will worry for me.” Harry gave a small smile to the sky and hummed a tune before apparating away from the building with his belongings in hand. 

~

“Merle?” T-Dog’s eyes widened when he caught sight of the man he practically abandoned on the roof hobble over with the tool bag in his hands. “What the fu- How did you get out of the handcuffs?”

Merle pinned T-Dog with a vicious glare promising retribution. “No thanks to you. The kid got some skills with… picking the locks.” He stuttered over his explanations which remained ignorant to the other survivors, but Rick. 

“What? Where’s Harry?” Rick asks, worried for his newly found friend. “Where is he, Merle?” 

“He said to get off the roof, he said he’ll find another way out.” Merle says. “Walkers flooded the the whole place as soon as I got here.. Lucky the shelves were all over the place, would’ve gotten my hand bitten off.” 

“So you left him to fucking die? How in the hell is he supposed to get out of the building?” 

“He’ll find a way, Officer Friendly.” Merle assured, shocking the others as the man actually sounded pretty worried for their abandoned companion. “Don’t get your fucking panties in a twist. We gotta go, whether you like it or not.” 

The decision has been made, it did not mean Rick liked it at all. Morales gave a comforting pat on Rick’s right shoulder and told him everything will be okay. That Harry would find their way to them eventually. Rick huffed, rolled his eyes, and revved the cube truck to life, driving along the road with the aid of Morales direction.

~

“ _ Two roads diverged in a yellow wood _ …” Harry hums peacefully even when he slew a couple of the dead with a flick of his wrist. “ _ And sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth _ …” 

It took day and night for Harry to finally get where he is at. He stabs his walking cane against the ground and quirked his head when he arrived at the encampment. Rolling his shoulders, Harry walked a bit faster towards the horizon despite the steep hill that came with it. Apparating every other spot grew a bit tiring for Harry, and his legs needed a stretch. 

“Hmmm, interesting camp you have here…” He murmurs. 

~

“So let me get this straight. You wanna go back to Atlanta to look for a guy you don’t even know escaped the hoard?” Shane, Rick’s best friend and former police partner, asked with his arms akimbo. 

“Look Shane, I know-”

“Well, look, I-I don’t, okay, Rick? So could you just - could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why?”

Rick sighs. “Second to Morgan? He’s the only person that I’ve met that did not put a gun to my face, nor was he eating people. And he risked his life just to save someone like Merle when people abandoned him on the roof. You don’t think this type of guy don’t need saving?”

“I don’t think he needs saving as I don’t think he even survived. Even the douchebag said the place was overrun before you guys left. Do you think your friend even survived that shit, man? Common sense.” Shane says. “You’ll risk your life for a man you met for a few hours maybe even longer under false hope, man? You’ll risk other people’s lives for the sake of one man?”

“Aw you do worry for me! How sweet~,” a recognizable British accent quipped, obviously amused.

“Who the fu-” Shane steadied himself and pointed his shotgun towards the source of the voice. “Who are you?”

“Weren’t you talking about me just now? Or am I that forgettable?”

“Shane, stand down. He’s the guy.” Rick pointed out, his hands on the shotgun’s shaft. “He’s the guy, man.” 

“Names Harry Black, a pleasure to meet the man Rick loved teasing.” The brit waved with a cocky smile. “You must be Shane if ‘tall, dark, and handsome’ was anything to go by. Anyway, I believe this is yours.” 

Harry raised the bag for Rick to see. Rick’s eyes widened a bit in shock. “You went back?”

“Woah, woah, woah, where’d he get those guns?” Shane asks. 

“He didn’t I did. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I entered Atlanta. I dropped it when Harry and I were swarmed. It was just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up. How’d you get it, Harry?” 

“I am proficient with the staff.” Harry smirked. “I remembered you dropped it before we were swarmed, so I went back before anyone had the audacity to pick it up.”

“My buddy Rick told me the building was overrun after they left. If you don’t mind telling me, how’d you get out?” Shane inquired. “And how’d you find our camp?”

“Dumb luck. The dead usually has weak, decomposed tissue, so it was easy for me to push them back even if it gave me a bit of a struggle. The ones in Atlanta were dead longer, so their tissue was malleable. And my cloak gives me a bit of camouflage because it blocks my scent, so it was a straight shot from there. As for finding your camp, I just followed the direction of the truck they drove. And the blaring alarm. But night was already ahead so I had to camp out somewhere. After that, I randomly selected a route. Fortunately, I ended up here.” Harry lied, but no one seemed to notice. 

“So then I assume you’re here to join us?” Shane asked, his shotgun out of sight. He gave Harry a queer look, measuring him for what he’s worth.

“Yes if you don’t mind.” Harry smiles.

“Got anything we should worry about in that baggage of yours?”

“Other than first aid, medicine, and some other supplies, I don’t think you should worry. Unless you think a man with a staff is a threat.” He teased. He smiled when the man huffed. 

“Why you got so much medicine in that pack of yours.”

Harry gave a patient smile. “Because I’m technically a doctor, but back at home they call me a healer.” 

Shane’s eyes sparkled in surprise. “Really?”

Harry nods. “Yeah.”

“Got a tent or anything? We can’t really spare any since everyone has their own.” 

“I can make do.” Harry says with the same smile. 

“Ahayhay! The man who saved my life is back!” Merle exclaims. “Harry, right?”

Is he really that forgettable?

“You mean this tiny little thing saved your worthless ass, brother?” Another southern drawl drew Harry’s attention in the moment of pure curiosity. And to be honest, he did not think he would see a lesser carbon copy of a Merle Dixon standing there with squirrels slung across his shoulders. “He don’t look like much.” 

Harry scoffed. “Thanks. Nice to meet you too.” He sarcastically drawls.

The man simply smirks and walks away with Merle following suit. Harry watched as the two, he assumed, brothers started hacking away into the squirrels with their knives. Grossed out, Harry turned away and drew his attention back towards the two men who were smirking in amusement. Scoffing, he cuffed Rick’s head softly.

“Stop looking at me like that.” Harry said, puffing out his chest. “You too.” He points at Shane.

“Nice to have you back, Harry.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk. A/N: Should I make this a Shane/Harry/Rick sorta thing or should I do another threesome with Harry. Idk. I like Shane lol. He’s hot.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Periodically, there will be slower updates as the semester in Uni progresses. Thereby giving me less time to write and more time to study for midterms and, potentially, finals. I will NOT give up on this story as it is my beloved one thus far. As for the Shane/Harry/Rick threesome pairing I was thinking about previously, I will be planning a SEPARATE story for such a couple. For now I want to continue with this one before I start another project. Oh and BTW thank you guys SO much for all of the comments supporting me and my bullshit writing! As for the people bookmarking and giving me kudos, thank you guys so much. It humbles me significantly and continues giving me courage writing this project!)

“Sometimes, I feel like I am doing everything wrong. That everything I am doing is not right.” Harry whispers, cradling the tiny black rock in his hands. “Becoming a healer. Reforming Hogwarts. What is the point in putting effort in everything we’ve all done for the Wizarding World only for it all to go to waste?”

He stared at the fire, but he felt the sorrow expressions, the pity, from his friends’ and families’ longing stare. They knew the troubles the young man before them went through. Seeing death at a young age, going after the Darkest Lord in the Wizarding World since Grindelwald, and reforming the Wizarding World thereafter their imminent war, it’s not something that should be burdened on an infant. The weight of their world rest on one infant, and nothing the parents nor his friends could do to prevent such a fate from happening.

Harry continued staring at the fire. Each strand of wispy ember danced with the cold wind accompanied by the dark, almost macabre atmosphere Grimmauld place has. It was antithetical, the light to the dark. A relationship, a dichotomy, Harry came to acknowledge. Not as if it had any importance in the manner at all.  

“The dead starting walking. Did you know that?” Harry whispers. “ Patients upon patients kept flooding into St. Mungos. Every healer was paged, and each report described a human shaped bite. The first to go was Greengrass, and Draco… I couldn’t save  _ any of them _ . I lost Neville who was crying in pain, in so much pain. No matter how much calming draught I put in his system, his agony overpowered the potion. It was like watching a muggle borne Crucio inflicted on the bravest person I know. Merlin I need all of you. I don’t know what to do. But you’re all dead so what can you do...”

The wizarding boy looked up, his doe-like green eyes peering through the spirits of his families’ own lost souls. They felt the shift in the air, the magic snapping. It felt cold, it felt… dark… it felt like… regret… 

~

Harry never really liked bullies. 

Ever since he was a kid, the only bully in his life was Dudley. A port kid who would not give a second glance to his own glutton. He was pampered, guarded within No. 4 Privet Drive by Harry’s only two living relatives and Dudley’s very own parents. They maintained this unrealistic ideology of normalcy. 

Unfortunately, if Dudley saw anything that broke the peace he would beat the sense out of it with his two meaty fists. Sadly, it was Harry who broke the normalcy in the house with his  _ freakish  _ abilities. That’s why the port kid played a game called ‘Harry Hunting.’ 

Harry chuckles in thought. It was analogous to the alluding witch hunts, but the boy dare not say anything that is synonymous to the ‘m’ word. 

Overall, Harry did not enjoy his time in No. 4 Privet Drive because of many factors, but what made it worse was Dudley. Beaten senseless was not what Harry asked for, he did not ask for his magic; he did not ask for his freakish abilities, but by the will of Merlin it was so when Hagrid finally spoke up about the boy’s genealogy. He wished they would have seen through their  own stubborn walls and see a little boy lost in the world without anyone caring for him. 

However, they were clouded by jealousy and pride. Harry could do nothing but bare the fruits of their neglect.

Shaking his head, Harry continued watching the scene in front of him. A man pointed his meaty fingers towards Andrea, the woman he met back at the department store. He was throwing a petulant fit with the women doing the laundry, strutting in as if he owned the place while smoking a cigarette. Harry had watched them joke around flippantly but the man seemed to hate simple amusement. He called out for his wife with a wave of his hand.

When Harry introduced himself to camp, the mousy lady who had her arms around an equally mousy little girl gave him a smile, introducing themselves as Carol and her daughter, Sophia. The man, who Harry came to know as Ed Peletier by Dale, grabbed her by the shoulders and hauled her across camp without even a glance. 

The man looked cold and cruel, even to his wife and child. Sad part is, he does not seem like he actually cares. 

When the man smote Carol’s cheek with a slap, Harry saw enough. Getting up from the rock he was perched on, he brandished his wand and sent an intense stinging hex to Ed’s ass with a deadlier curse waiting on his tongue. The man yelped in pain, tripping over the round, protruding rocks. On the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a pissed off Shane with an equally pissed off Rick. But what the wizard did not expect was Shane pouncing on Ed with Rick following suit.

The man continuously beat Ed’s face with each strong punch. Ed’s face looked remotely caved in and looked absolutely bruised; it also did not help when he threw a punch at Shane, only to be beaten deeper into the ground. Rick grabbed at Shane’s shirt, pleading for him to get off the man but his partner ignored him. Shane continued beating the man mercilessly.

“No-” Carol screams, her hands covering her mouth in shock. “Rick! Rick! Tell Shane to stop, my husband…” She whimpers. 

“Shane! Shane! Stop- put the man down, Shane!” Rick begged while pulling on the attacking man’s shirt. “C’mon man.” 

Harry sighed, sheathing his wand. Fortunately, no one saw him casting the hexes. “Shane, I think you proved your point.” He tried. “He’s already black and blue, Shane.” 

Shane gave the Ed a last punch to the face. He put a finger in front of the man’s beaten face.“You put your hands on your wife, your little girl or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me?” Taking Ed’s face in his hand, he pulls him closer. “Do you hear me?” 

Ed’s voice slurred as he spoke. “Yes-shh…” 

“C’mon man, c’mon!” Rick grabbed Shane by the shirt. “You’re scaring them.”

Shane batted away Rick’s hands. “Get your hands off me, man. I’m gonna go patrol.” He growls, shrugging away as he huffed towards the camp. 

“What’s up?” Harry asks Rick but continues looking at the retreating Shane’s back.

Rick shrugs. “I don’t know anymore, Har.” He says. “I think I saw him talking to Lori about Carl, but I don’t know what happened. He just got mad. Then he saw that guy and everything went to shit.” 

Harry sighs. “I’ll go talk with him, okay?” Ed also threw in a punch during that one-sided brawl leaving quite a bruise on Shane’s left cheek. 

Following Shane’s trail was a bit hard for the wizard but he eventually found Shane brooding on a stump. He fumbled with himself for a moment, wondering how he will approach the man without provoking said man. He did not want to end up like Ed thank you very much. 

“Shane?” He calls. “Do you have a moment to talk?”

“Go away, Harry. Can’t you see I’m busy?” Shane grumbles, his face thunderous. 

“Yes I see you brooding on a stump without a weapon.” Harry quips sarcastically. “That is not going to do you much during these times, officer.”

“The fuck do you know? Rick said you ain’t got a weapon in the first place but that useless staff you got stashed in your tent.” Shane shot back. 

“Touche.” Harry chuckled. “It’s a pretty viable weapon if I do say so myself.” 

Shane rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, right... “ He rubs the back of his head. “So, what did you want?” 

“First off, there is a bruise on your face.” Harry points out. “And you seem tense, wanna talk about it?”

“What are you? Some kind of therapist, too?” 

Harry raised a brow. “No, though many people say I am a good listener before the world came to an end.” He smirks. “My possibly dead best friends could vouch for me.” 

“Yeah.” Shane nods his head. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m fine.”

“Says your shaking fingers…” Harry glanced at Shane’s twitchy right hand. “If you don’t want to talk about it, you do not have to confide. I’m not forcing you to do so. However, I know how it is keeping such things silent until it boils over you and hits you like a ton of bricks. It’s not healthy, but if you’re willing to share it with me or even Rick-”

“Rick,” he scoffs. “He don’t know shit… He’s been dead, dead all this time and suddenly he comes back as if he hasn’t been in a coma all this fucking time. You know how that feels?

“Admittedly, no.” Harry says. “I do not know how this feels. I do not know how a presumed dead guy suddenly waltz in perfectly healthy back into your life, but I know it does not help burdening yourself with your anger.”   
  


“I’m not-”

“Yes you are,” Harry interrupts. “You’re angry he suddenly waltzed back in your life like nothing happened. I catch your face whenever Rick shows up.” 

“You don’t know shit, Harry! What do you know, huh? You just said it yourself, you don’t know how it feels caging all these feelings and shit in when someone you thought dead suddenly shows up out of the blue.” Shane retorts. 

“Because it doesn’t help.” 

“Doesn’t help what?”

“Doesn’t help you, Shane. It does not help holding your anger in, it’s not healthy. There is already so much lost in the world even the lives we sworn to protect, can you really afford losing a friend over your own personal dilemma? These are trying times, Shane. A friend is worth more than a  _ stupid  _ affair.” Harry says with solemnity washing over him. “I’ve lost countless of friends already, don’t make me lose you two too…” 

Harry’s vision was soon enough clouded by tears. Shane opened his mouth to speak but Harry rushily interrupts him with a bat of his hand. “If you ever need someone to talk with, my tent or I am always available. I can also tend to your bruised cheek if you require my assistance.” 

Then he leaves a rather confused Shane behind.

~

“I think we may have a bit of a problem.” Dale pointed at the man on the higher ground digging through the Earth rather fervently. 

See? Not a good day. 

Shane and Rick got up from their posts one emulating the other, arms akimbo and the same serious scrunched countenance. Harry looked on in mild amusement before glancing at the older man he came to like. The man looked right worried for the man on the hill. 

“It’s Jim.” And that was his name! He was not there when Harry randomly popped into camp. “He’s been there since morning.” 

Harry quirked his head. Since daybreak, he says. The weather did not call for strenuous work as Harry believed a moderate heat wave is sweeping through Georgia at this very moment. Then that would mean the man’s head has been baking through this increase in temperature. Eyes softening in worry, Harry looked on in askance when Shane and Rick ambled towards the hill with others following.

He sighed and got up, following the group of curious people. When they reached their destination, the man paid no attention towards his fellow companions who were looking on in worry. He continued working away probably purposefully, or unintentionally, the wizard cannot quite pin it down. He deduced it to purposefully when he ignored Shane’s callings. 

“Jim? Your name is Jim, right?” Rick starts, his blue eyes gleaming with worry. “Why don’t you hold up, alright? It’s hot man, take a break or something. Dale said you’ve been here for a while.” 

Jim continued digging despite the onlookers, ignoring Rick. But after what felt like hours, the man finally stopped digging, stabbing the shovel in the ground and gave the officer a heavy look.

“Who’re you?” Jim asks.

“My name is Rick Grimes. Someone who wants to help you.” Rick responds, wondering why the man is digging multiple holes in the ground. In hindsight, Rick believed the man was digging a graveyard.

“What do you want?” He asks.

“We want you to take a break, Jim.” Shane says. “We don’t like seeing you like this man. It’s worrying us.” 

“And it’s scaring the kids,” Lori, Rick’s wife, cuts in. “You’re scaring people with all this digging by your lonesome. They may not say it, but I will.” 

Jim pauses. “They got nothing to be afraid of, neither do any of you.” He blinks and gave a scoff. “I mean, what the hell people? I’m out here by myself. Why don’t you all just go and leave me the hell alone?” 

Shane cuts in with Rick by his side. “We think that you need to take a break, okay? Why don’t you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe. I’ll tell you what - maybe in a little bit I’ll come out here with Rick and we can help you ourselves” 

“Your head’s been baking in high temperatures, Jim.” Harry says with softened eyes. He smiled at the bearded man’s confused expression. “You may not know me since I haven’t introduced myself before, but I’m Harry Black. I’m a doctor and given your pink coloring, you are potentially overheating. It doesn’t help that there is a heatwave sweeping through Georgia at the moment. So I would prefer it if you would stop this activity for the moment, and cool down as Shane suggested.”

Shane nods in thanks. “C’mon Jim. Doctor’s orders.” He smirked at Harry. 

Jim heaved a heavy sigh, releasing the handle grip with reluctance. “Fine…”

~

“Here have some water,” Harry says.

He passes the water to Jim after the man had a moment with himself. The man gave him an appreciative smile and drank some while dumping some over his head.

“You’re right, doc. My head’s been bakin under that sun for a while.” Jim laid his head down on the cooled pillow. 

Harry chuckles. “What possessed you to start digging under these hot conditions?” Harry asked curiously. 

Jim shakes his head. “I don’t know. I had a reason, but… can’t remember why.” 

“That’s fine.” Harry smiles. “I’ve heard that there is a fish fry going on later tonight. Why don’t you join us after you cooled off, hm?” Somehow, Harry felt a sense of foreboding. The Luna type of foreboding. 

Jim nods. “I’d like that very much…”

~

When Harry exited the RV, Rick immediately started bombarding the wizard with questions. Most of which stemmed from the man’s worry for Jim.

“He’s alright. He’s just cooling down and resting his head.” The wizard assured the police officer.

Fortunately, the man fell into slumber when Harry placed a cooling charm on the pillow the man laid on. It would expedite the process tremendously and hopefully Harry could get him something to eat later on tonight. Rick still had that worried glint in his sky blue eyes but Harry reassured him. 

“He’s going to be okay. His head cooked under the sun, but not long enough for him to undergo a heatstroke.” Harry tried. “Rick I know you’re worried for the man, but give him time to heal.”

“You sure?” 

“Yes, I am sure.” Harry placed a comforting hand on Rick’s tense shoulders. “Don’t you have a camp to protect?”

“Yeah.” The officer rubs the back of his head. “Yeah you’re right.” 

The wizard quirks his head curiously. “What’s wrong?”

“Did you talk with Shane, do you know what’s going on?” Rick asks curiously. In reality Rick knew what exactly was going on with Shane but a second opinion is always nice. “Harry?”

Harry seemed lost within his own world until he shook his head and gave Rick the same pearly smile. “Nothing Rick.” He simply says before turning away from him and entered the RV. But before he entered, he glanced at Rick. “He’s just angry Rick. Angry at me for putting myself in his business, his business, and you, Rick.” 

“Wait - wait, Harry! Wait… why’s he angry with me?” He caught up with Harry, grabbing his arm and stared into the other man’s emerald green eyes. “Why’s he angry with you?”

“That is something a really close friend should ask instead, hm?” Harry hums. “And like I said, I added my own two-cents into his own dilemma. He’s angry because I’m not really anything to him.”

“You’re his friends just as much-”

“Not as close as he is to you, Rick.” Harry says. “I don’t mind that I am not close with him as you are, nor do I care really. Just go talk to him, Rick.”

 

~

_ “Rick’s been telling us he saw you on that highway near Atlanta.” Shane says with an ebullient smirk. Something that ticked Harry the wrong way, if only the amusement did not suck him in. “And you were standing on the ledge. Got anythin’ you’re hiding from us?” _

_ “Not a mental illness if that is what you’re wondering.” Harry deadpans. “I only stood at that ledge to get a better view of the carnage present in the city of Atlanta. And no – stop giving me that look will you – I wasn’t going to commit suicide.”  _

_ “You were also barefoot. As you are right now.”  _

_ “One goes another one enhances.” Harry says and chuckles at Shane’s look of confusion. “Hearing, smelling… tasting, weirdly, are all enhanced it seems and it is purely based on my own observations given I’ve spent a lot of time with them.” _

_ “Interesting. Smart.” He admits and if Harry knew any better Shane seemed quite shocked. “You got any weapons instead of that staff you carry around?” _

_ “I’m resourceful.” Harry shrugs. “It's kind of exotic to carry around guns nowadays. They are often loud – attracts more than kills. Ammunition isn’t really in the market nowadays, and they are not easy to maintain given you lack training and the proper skills. Unlike you officer, I can make do with the things around me.” _

_ “Oh is that a challenge? What say you catch some frogs with me.” _

_ “Catch some frogs?” Harry raised a brow as he asked the peculiar question. “Into frog legs, are we?” _

_ “Aye, once we got nothin’ left to eat – we get to that last can of beans, you’d be loving those frog legs, my man. I can see it now – ‘Shane, Shane, do you think I could have a second helping with some of that tea and crumpets, my good man.’” The older man mocks in an awful British accent.  _

_ “Wouldn’t have frog legs smothering all over my crumpets and tea, nevermind eating them. So I doubt it,” Harry lifts his nose in the air, eliciting a laugh from the officer. Something Harry never did hear in quite a while, the sweet sounds of amusement. “But let’s see who can catch the most frogs out of the two of us, since you seem up to the challenge. Beware forswear, I do have catlike reflexes.” _

_ “So do I, boy.” Shane teases. _

_ “Oi! Don’t call me boy!” _

_ ~ _

“Pass the fish please,” Sophia asks politely. 

“Here you go,” Carol passes the plated fish fry to her daughter with a smile on her face. 

Harry smiles when Shane pulled a chair and joined them, seemingly more winsome than before. Perhaps the fish fry did him some good, as Muggles always say that to a man’s heart is through their belly. Not that Harry believed in that rubbish. 

“So Harry, what’s your story. Out of all of us here, you’re the enigma in our group.” Morales perked up the question after a few moments filled with good cheer and merriment. The attention, unfortunately, turned towards the only Brit in the group. Who had a deer in the headlights sort of expression, giving the Dixons a few chuckles from the back. 

Harry gaped like a fish for a few moments. “I guess – I’m nothing really special, I assure you. I was born and raised in Surrey, England for a good seventeen years of my life. Went to a boarding school in Scotland, and soon after that attained my mastery in medicine. Before the world went haywire, I fell in love with the states and decided traveling would be my best option to ignore everything else around me.” 

“You said you were looking for a friend. You think we can find him?” Rick says from his seat with his arms wrapped tightly around his wife’s waist.

The wizard blinked. “Now that I think about it, I don’t really know. It’s like he’s there in front of me, but in reality…” Harry hums. “It doesn’t matter.” 

“Who is this guy to you?” Shane asks.

“A friend. Someone me and my friend, Luna, back home trusts with our lives.” Harry says, his hands pressed tightly against the pocket. 

“He or she seems to be very important.” Lori comments. 

Harry gave the woman a smirk. “They are.”   


“So why don’t we go looking for them?” Glenn suggests. “We can go back to the city –”

“We ain’t going back to a city looking for a dead man, Glenn.” Shane shakes his head. 

“And why not, Shane?” Glenn challenges. Shane looked a bit taken aback by the challenge, by Glenn of all people. But the boy felt this sort of conflicting confidence spiral through his body. “Harry says he or she is important, so why are we not going to go look out for them? Harry brought us guns, he brought us medicine. What more can we ask and not repay?” 

Harry chuckles, touched by Glenn’s worry for him. “Nothing to worry about, Glenn. I am sure my friend could take care of themselves for the time being, for now we worry about our survival. As we should be, anyway.” Harry then turn towards Dale. “Now I have a question of my own.”

“Yes, Harry?” The old man asks in mild amusement.

“That watch.”

“What about my watch?”

“I see you every day, just when the sun is finally going to sleep, winding that thing.” Harry says in amusement. “Why keep such a mundane thing on hand when the world has come to an end?”

“Time – It’s important to keep up with it, right? Andrea, back me up here.”

The man did not gain any support from the woman taking a bite from the fish she and her sister caught earlier. Though the woman, in response, chuckled at the man’s betrayed expression, Harry looked on in amusement when Dale fumbled with his next words of wisdom.

“I like – I like what, uhm, a father said to his son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He says, “I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father’s before me; I give it to you, not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it.” 

“Wise words, good sir.” Harry gave Dale a cheeky smile. 

“You people are so weird.” Amy deadpans from her seat next to Andrea. 

Everyone started laughing as the words were unexpected, springing suddenly from the moment of silence dawning over the group just moments prior. 

“Where are you going?” Andrea asks when Amy pulled herself off the log.

  
“I have to pee.” Then the younger of the two looks around. “Jeez, you try to be discreet around here.”   
  


“Oh, can I accompany you? I have to check on Jim.” Harry says, peeling himself from the stump he was perched on. “I think he fell asleep.” 

“Yeah, let’s go.” 

Once the two was far enough away from the group, Amy started wiggling her eyebrows at the Brit. 

“So Harry, I see you’ve been talking with Shane often. You two got something going on?” Amy teases, giggling at the Brit’s flustered face. 

“Just to let you know, I’ve not been consorting with Shane anywhere in these forests, too dirty in my opinion.” Harry raised his nose in the air, “I expect sex between luscious, silky sheets with satin curtains flourishing in the darkest night, with the moon sending it's pearlescent shimmer onto the window panes.” He describes dramatically. “And no, nothing happened between the both of us. Just platonic word exchanging.”

“Are you sure words were the only thing you guys were exchanging?” Amy chortles. “God I would give a limb or two for a hotel bed, or any bed really.”

“Don’t we all?” 

Then they heard a tap on the RV.

“What the –”

“Jim?”

It all happened too fast, in Harry’s opinion. One minute, the door swung open by Jim rather forcefully, hitting the walker advancing close behind Amy, and in the other, more flooded into camp. Jim screams in alarm, alerting the group members near the campfire to take action against the advancing hoard, while also pulling the two from imminent danger, closing the RV and locking it. Screams were heard and blood churling squelched outside of the RV. 

“Amy, you bit?” Jim asks. 

“No – never, thanks though for hitting that piece of shit walking close behind me.” Amy says appreciatively. “We have to go back out there. My sister’s out there!”

“It’s too dangerous,” Jim assures. “Your sister is a fighter that one, she’ll make it out alive. I know she will.”

“She’s still my older sister, Jim! Family never leave each other behind.” Amy huffs stubbornly, sounding a bit indignant. “I’m going out there to help!”

“Amy I think it is imperative we listen to Jim. If it wasn’t for him, you would’ve been bitten!” 

“Harry! My sister is out there!” Amy pleads. "I have to get out there, I have to help her -- help the group!" 

Harry sighs. “That is why I’m going out there, to see if I can help and assure Andrea you are here, safe!”  Harry glances at Jim. “Please pass me my staff, please Jim.”

~

Harry tapped the staff against the door after he exited. “ _ Colloportus _ .” 

The one interesting he observed was the practical usage of the locking charm. There were times where he needed to camp out in an abandoned building or a house. Muggle locks were not ideal in keeping out the dead ones. Fortunately, the locking charm prevents any trespasser and would only open for people who knows the counter charm. So it kept stray walkers from wandering into the same room. The most preventative measure was a ward, but he needed runes for that and time.

And time was not freely given nowadays. 

“They’re safe,” He assures himself. “They’re safe.”

He quickly stabbed an offending walker from chewing his neck apart with one quick jab in the face. A squelching turn had the walker down on his knees, and dropping dead on the dirt patch. 

“You good there, chap?” Merle asks, a machete in his hands. “What about using that mojo shojo you used back on that roof over in Atlanta?” 

“I would like to keep some things up my sleeve, Merle.” Harry smirks, stabbing another offending walker in the eye. “Are you well? You’re not bitten, correct?”

“Ain’t no pussy ass walker getting a chunk out of ole Merle here.” Merle gave an ebullient smirk before swiping his machete, decapitating two walkers. “Got everything handled? Ain’t gonna need to save your sorry ass, yeah?”

Harry nods. “Hopefully.” He says. 

“ _ Incendio _ ,” Harry whispers. He bent down just slightly, and on the tip of the staff he blew on it, eliciting a stream of fire streaming from the staff. The only disadvantage was focussing his magic into the staff, luckily Merle got the memo and started slewing the closest walkers from taking a chunk from the wizard. After a few minutes, the stream of fire encased five walkers at once  in a wheel of flames, incinerating them until they are nothing but ash.

“How ‘bout that. Will you lookie here. Now that’s how you kill walkers!” Merle complimented. “God your mojo really knows how turn these bastards over here into bacon.”

“Are the others alive?” Harry asked.

Merle shrugs. “My brother’s helpin’ out Officer Friendly and G.I. Joe over there. Half the group was eaten by a few walkers. Idiots, all of them.” 

Harry shakes his head, ignoring Merle’s disregard for the other survivors’ deaths. “Have you seen Amy’s sister?” He asks, a bit worried for the older blond woman even if Merle was not.

“You meen rug muncher? Nah haven’t seen the bitch since these bastards attacked.” Merle looked at the RV door, noticing the lavender shine. “You put a voodoo shit on that door over there?”

“A locking charm. It prevents anyone from trespassing into the RV, so naturally it keeps out walkers from making the two in there a meal. I trust you’re not going to be telling anyone anything  about my magic, right?” Harry needed to make sure Merle kept his word. ”Not even your brother.”

Merle nods, but Harry did not feel reassured. It was justified, however, given Merle does not hide anything from his brother from what Harry observed. 

“We’re clear? Should we help out over there?” 

“Nah, they got everythin’ handled.” Merle bats a hand. “Although I hate the two assholes and wouldn’t give them two shits if their life was endangered, they’re good fighters the lot of them. That I can respect.”

“Wow, you sound shocked with your own revelation, Merle.” Harry smirks at the man’s astonished face when words of respect streamed from his mouth as opposed to the usual expletives.

“Ah shut up and keep your guard up before we both die, you hear me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a side note, do you guys get that feeling when you write a chapter for fan fiction or your own personal novel, you have this one chapter you really did not like writing? Cause same. I can relate on so many levels lol.


	4. TS-19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halloween is coming up! So here is your treat~. Hopefully, it was really hard writing this chapter. And I did not read back... so there might be awkward sentence structures and wording. I know that, and I'll probably post a re-edited version! Anyway, from this point on, this is considered the ending to a rather long prologue. The start of S02 of The Walking Dead will start to change! I hope I can do it justice.
> 
> Word Count: 13,000+

“Harry?” 

“For years I’ve looked at the doors of Death, awaiting for my own fate. Alas, it never came and here I am drawing breath.” Harry blinked. “One would think I know the ways in Death and how it works, given I’ve seen my fair share of it throughout my life. However, realistically it is never easy. Watching people die, I mean. Right before your eyes.”

Rick pats him on the back while also looking at the body of the nicest human being he has met back in the department store. Jacqui. The afro-american woman who gave her life up in order to save Carol’s daughter from an offending walker. She was the nicest, loveliest person here in this camp, the last fragment of humanity Harry once called her. Now that she is dead, Harry looked as if there was no hope anymore. The man instead held her right hand with such tender care, his bird-like hands that one would think seen no scalpel, seen no hardship.

“I know my fair share, too.” Rick scoffs when Harry gave him a deadpanned glare. “Stop giving me that look cause it wasn’t when I woke up. When you’re a cop-”

“Or a Sheriff's deputy,” Harry mocks in a deep voice, wiggling his eyebrows.

Rick rolls his eyes. “You see a lot of shit out on the field. One day you get a robber, another you get a murderer willing to kill an officer.” 

“It is amazing what people will do when they know their life is coming to an imminent end.” Harry comments, sighing after he wiped away a bit of blood on Jacqui’s arm. “Though there are a select few, Jacqui’s a prime example. A great sacrifice...” 

Rick stared at Harry. Sometimes the officer wondered about the Brit. One day, he’s a happy, carefree, undeterred man with a smile that – almost – mollifies everyone, even Shane. Another day he’s like this, a reticent, too wise for his age young man with old, weary eyes. The shine in those deep viridian orbs dim, as if watching something in the distance, something past Rick himself.

Ironically, Harry’s eyes drew Rick from his invasive observations. “I never really talked with her, but I felt like she knew what I went through, what I’ve been through. And with that knowledge, she smiled and respected my privacy. Hah… It’s the one thing I’ve asked before this  _ thing  _ started: privacy.”

Rick nods, relating to the topic. “Before everything… before waking up to this thing, that’s all I asked too. Y’know, from everything from everyone, including my family. There were times where they were just  _ so  _ annoying that I couldn’t wait to be called in for duty. Then there were times where I found myself missing them after work.” Rick chuckles. “Now we’re practically inseparable. Can’t separate in times like these.” 

And it was true. Ever since he and his wife could not see eye-to-eye, they argued endlessly. Some ended up with Rick leaving the house, crashing on Shane’s or another friend’s couch for the night. Some ended with broken glass or a broken vase, some ended with slaps and bruises, and worst of all, some ended with Carl witnessing the entire thing happen before his innocent eyes. By God he wanted to protect his, shield his son away from bad things a child should always stay away. 

But at the same time, he wanted to leave. There were times he thought of abandoning his own families, really dark thoughts flooding his mind. Right until Shane smacked him upside the head and  _ really  _ think about is actions, contemplate it a bit longer than come to a realization. And the only realization he came up with was to stay with Carl, just for his son. Bare the fruit he bore and live with the only light in his dark, dwindling life.

Harry snapped Rick away from his dark thoughts. “That is true, lest you want to test your mettle with a hoard.” He jokes, garnering a small laugh from Rick. He glances at the man. “What did it feel like? Waking up to all of this?”

The officer could not bate away the smile brushing on his lips when the man in front of him looked too intoxicated with his own genuine curiosity.

“I was confused. When I woke up, everything was down. The flowers by my bed were dead. Just all types of crazy shit when I walked out of my room, strobing lights, dead nurses...” Rick shook his head. He was still shaken up even when it’s been like what? Days, weeks? Who knows. “There was this one nurse that I knew. She was ripped apar-”

“Okay. You do not have to describe the gory bits.” Harry gave Rick a small smile, eyes owlish. “I guess waking up to this would do a number on you. What I wouldn’t kill for a bit of normalcy in my life.”

“You say that as if it was a bad thing.” Rick raised a brow.

The wizard raised his brows in acknowledgement. “Bittersweet, really. I do want a normal life. At the same time, my relatives believed in the normal religiously.” He silenced soon after, shaking his head from the bitter thoughts coiling around his mind like a python. “They never really liked me. One thing’s for certain, they hated that I was an enigma in their house.” 

“Why?”   


“Brought unwanted attention. Half of it was embittered by my parents’ success, but they wouldn’t admit it even if they were on their deathbed.” Harry observed Rick. The wizard did not like the withdrawn look Rick offered. “Don’t give me that look of pity.” 

“No one deserves to be cast out, not by family. Even before all this shit happened, no one deserves hatred from their own family.”

Harry quirked his head but gave Rick a bright smile. “That’s what I’ve always wanted, a family.”  The subtle change in subject dropped the prior subject completely, and that Harry appreciated. He’d honestly talk about his family dynamic another time with Rick, but it hurts just realizing why they treated him like shit. He dabbed the cloth doused in water against the body’s arm. “Luckily, I didn’t have to stay long with my relatives. Boarding school kept my thoughts clear from working the stove and living under their shadow.” 

“Ever thought of settling down?”

“Not really. I was young yet, just reached my prime. I’ve seen a lot of things and noticed a lot of things about myself when I finally spent time alone. One of which costed me a relationship I hadn’t knew started simply because we kissed. In the moment it was exciting, like confetti spilling from the air. But… it didn’t feel right. Not since everything. We also did not talk much about it. It actually disconcerted me for a few weeks when she became a bit clingy with my arms.” Harry pressed the rag against Jacqui’s face, polishing it with a coat of water. He placed the rag in the bowel of clean water, wiping his hands on his jeans. “I’m done here, wanna talk in the RV?”

“Sure.”

Rick watched Harry place a sweet, gentle kiss against Jacqui’s forehead before settling her head against the cot slowly. The officer raised a brow when Harry whispered something monotonously against the dead woman’s head. Rick decided not to comment on it when Harry lead him towards the RV. Rather he sat with him on the bed, waiting for the other man to speak. 

“How are you, Rick? After last night…”

“It was sudden.” Rick nodded. “Didn’t have much time to think but just attack, defend anyone within my sight. I tried to save everyone, you know? That cop in me that sees everyone as a citizen to defend from the robbers waiting to rob their lives.”

“Don’t you just love adrenaline?”

“It helps, but it takes a bitchy toll on your ass when you least expect it.” Rick sighs, back pressed on the mattress. The two laughed when Harry simply laid himself down. “When I first met you, I thought you were crazy for just standing there on that highway.”

“It is always about the highway with you,” Harry abruptly comments with a lackadaisical, lopsided smirk. “I wasn’t going to commit suicide, I was just looking at the carnage!”

“Sure…” Rick drawls. “Sure you did, Har.”

Harry rolled his eyes and decked the officer with a pillow. 

Rick scoffs, but the amusement in his eyes belied his countenance. “You know, hitting an officer is a federal offense.”

“Oh? And what are you going to do with little old me?”

“Not much. Like you said, you’re little.” Rick smirks and smacks Harry with another pillow. “Nah not little, just short. Almost missed you there.”

“Oi!”

~

“I hate this…” Jim comments. “Where’re we planning to go to after what happened last night? We ain’t safe here.”

Shane shrugs. “Dunno. Probably try Fort Benning. Military. Guns.” He suggests, arms akimbo. “But of course we got the Sheriff's Deputy with another suggestion, take it away why don’t ya?”

Rick rolled his eyes. “There is talk about the CDC in Atlanta working on a cure. Why don’t we stop there and -”

“You want us to go into the city, again?” Shane asks, appalled with the thought. “

“Yes, I know. You’ve been vocal on your opposition, Shane. But if there is a chance -”

“A ‘chance’ won’t get us anywhere, Rick. You know that, I know that. Think about it, you’re putting the group’s life in jeopardy because you believe there is a ‘chance.’” Shane exclaimed. “Fort Benning is as good as any right now!” 

“Why don’t we try keeping a civil tongue?” Harry piped in having had enough of the spiteful argument. The tension between the two men felt almost palpable. Did not seem the talk Harry had with Shane knocked any sense into the man. “Weigh our options. Come to a compensation.”

“Then what do you say, Har?” Rick asks. To be honest, he’d rather have a sensible agreement between the doctor and himself as opposed to his frustrated friend. 

“‘Har?’ Now you guys have nicknames? What’s next, friendship bracelets?” Shane scoffs. He rolled his eyes and dug his heel into the ground. “Since we’re leaving it to the doctor, what’d you say?”

The wizard let out an exasperated sigh. “Think of me as Switzerland, please. I’d rather not have my hand in your squabbles over leadership. But I will give you a piece of advice. Whatever you choose, it will have consequences. We have limited resources and limited fuel, what if we run out traveling all the way to Fort Benning? What if it has been abandoned and overrun, what then? As for the CDC, the same question applies. There is no correct answer, but know every decision comes with consequences.”

“The most wisest thing anyone said all day,” Dale says from the back of Harry. Jumping a little, Harry did not realize that the man was behind him all this time. He thought the old man was doing who-knows-what with the RV just then. “Fort Benning is hundreds of miles where we are currently, it would take a lot of fuel just to get to Columbus side.”

“But think of guns, protection, Dale. We’d be away from the hot-zone. If that place is operational, it’ll be heavily armed. We’d be safe within their walls, man. It’ll be worth wasting all our fuel for, and anyway we may refuel when we get there.” Shane says. “Harry, come on.”

Harry shooks his head. “Shane…”

Rick cuts in before Harry could say anymore. “The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We’ve all seen that. The CDC is our best choice.” He suggests.   
  
“And how do you know that Rick, huh? There is no telling that the CDC is still operational after all this, after Atlanta was infested with walkers.” Shane raised a brow, frustration marking his rugged features. “Look, I know you mean well brother. But the fact of the matter is this, we need protection. Over a quarter of our group was cleared out by the walkers, we need a good defense mechanism to avoid this type of situation again!” 

“And if what Harry says is true, what then? We’ll be slaughtered! Shane, look, I know you’re aggravated with driving into Atlanta again, but hear me out. A man I met back in Kings County, he told me the CDC in Atlanta is working on a vaccine, something to help us out. Trust me on this, man.” Rick practically begs, even when Shane turned his back towards the Deputy. “Shane don’t give me this shit.”

“Why don’t we discuss this later on, hm? The tension is getting to all of us.” Harry suggests. “We don’t have to go now. We still have time to decide on a course of action.”

The tension built up when Jim finally raised an important question, and it escalated into a full blown argument between the two conjoined leaders. Although both suggested rather ridiculous plans of action, they both had a solid point. There was nowhere they could go that was safe. One outweighs the other, essentially and vice versa. Harry sighs after a moment, watching the two walk back to who knows where in the opposite direction. 

“You okay, Harry?”

Admittedly, no. Tending to the hopeless, only to put them down gave Harry a heartache. Watching the two officers go at it like children did not help in the slightest. And being subjected to being glared at by Lori from across the camp for no apparent reason did not bode well with the doctor. 

For the most part he’s been tending a lot of people since the disaster struck, ignoring everything around him and giving his undivided attention up for his dying patients’ last wishes. Unfortunately, hardly anyone sustained a mild injury that did not result in a bite. Some did, majority did not. The ratio was tragic, and Harry found himself pitying everyone who had to live through this tragedy knowing one single bite could end your life. Fortunately, Merle and Daryl both gave them quick deaths despite the outrage Lori and the two leaders gave the doctor later on. Harry only shook his head, looking away from the blood gushing from his former patients’ heads. 

“Yeah I’m fine Glenn. There’s just been a lot of deaths today.” Harry comments lightly. 

He knew the asian boy was sensitive to these types of situations. A bit squeamish, just like Ron Harry thought. 

“It sucks. All of those people that were bitten by the hoard, man, they were good people. Jacqui…” 

“Will always be remembered.” Harry pats the teen’s right shoulder with a comforting hand. He watched Glenn’s face morph to one of mourning. “Now then, why don’t you help me with -”

“Harry, you got a minute?” Shane asks, walking closer to the smaller man. “We need to talk.”

Harry blinks, confusion written on his face. “What about? I swear the decision is not really up to me, I stand on my position as neutral ground.” He, however, sighs when Shane shot him a glare. “Or?” 

“C’mon.” Shane grabs Harry’s arm, despite the protest the smaller man gave. 

“Wha – Hey!” 

Ignoring Glenn, Shane drags the wizard across camp and lets go when they are farther away, deeper in the woods. Sitting on the stump Harry and he talked on before, the former officer stared at Harry with quizzical eyes. The wizard, although outraged by the man’s belligerent dragging, dug his heels into the ground, waiting for the man to finally have his say.

“Are you agreeing with Rick because he’s your friend or–”

Harry scoffs. “No, Shane. I am not inclined to agree with Rick because he is my friend. I honestly think both of your ideas are ridiculous, but the points did not go amiss. We are not safe anywhere. No one knows when a hoard might pass by, or when something decided to leak through the defenses.”

“What Rick is giving us is a ‘chance’ and we do not have all the chances in the world anymore.” The man comments almost hysterically, in Harry’s personal opinion. “He’s going based on a rumor, a rumor Harry! I suggest we go to Fort Benning even if it is overruned, at least there will be weapons stashed there. We could clear them out with the people we have now, little by little. Camp out when we don’t get the job done in time.”

“Although you may have a valid point, what if what Rick suggests does give us a second chance? A vaccine in which we no longer worry about a bite being our downfall? It gives us hope. And what if what  _ you  _ say is a pipe dream? What if someone already scavenged and pilfered all that is left from Fort Benning?”

“Then what do you suggest, Harry?” Shane’s frustration became evident when his arms started shaking in incessant vibrations. 

Harry sighs. “You guys call the shots when and where our next move shall be, I am simply a follower.” He places a hand on Shane’s tense shoulders. “I am sorry that I basically argued against your valid points, but we cannot take anything for granted anymore. The world is no longer what we thought it was, and it is a whole lot worse. People will shoot us for what we have or what we don’t have. One day they are your friend, the next they’ll slit your throat. Or maybe blow us up, who knows what we might get ourselves into… just know I will always stick with you guys, no matter where we go. I’m the doctor, I stick to where my patients go.”

“And if we are all dead?”

“Who knows what I might do,” Harry smiles. “Probably end it because I’d rather be dead than be alone.” 

Shane’s eyes narrowed, not in suspicion but in hidden bewilderment. The man before him, despite his recent allegations on his own mental health, suggested he would commit suicide if they were all to die. It does not help that the man kept on smiling. “How could you say that so easily?” His voice hung in the air when the silence dawned on their most recent conversation.

“When you have nothing to live for, what is the point? If you all die, what is the point?” Harry dug his nails into his right arm, looking down. He gave a shuddered breath. “Before all this, I was at a hospital back at England. There were patients piling up in the ER, all of which had a similar case of a bite or a scratch on their body; most commonly, their necks or their shoulders. Until this day, I regret everything I have done, or the lack of doing anything for the patients that were slowly dying due to the bite on their neck, or the scratch on their shoulders.” 

There was something shining in Shane’s eyes, pity or sympathy? A mix of the two? Maybe both, but Harry could not discern any emotion on the usually easily angered man. “You couldn’t do anything, and you probably knew you couldn’t do anything.”

“I tried making their deaths painless as possible. Minimize the pain, and ignore the hopeful eyes of their worried family members.” 

It was Shane’s turn to place a hand on Harry’s shoulders. “And you gave them peace. I would rather you or Rick putting me down if I fall. I’d rather die a quick death than a slow one.” 

Harry shook his head, visions of Shane or Rick falling into the hands of Death did not bode well with the wizard. “Don’t say that.” He says, his voice coming out more weakly than he’d originally intended. 

Shane paused. “I’m sorry, Harry. I didn’t mean –” He tried before Harry interrupted.

“It’s okay, Shane. There’s nothing to forgive.” He granted the man a smile. “So back to the original conversation.”

The wizard chuckled when the officer exaggerated his sigh by drawing it out longer than needed. “What about it?” Shane grumbles, making himself more comfortable on the stump and crossing his arms.

“What do you think we should do?”

The answer spewing from the usually frustrated man’s mouth shocked Harry. “Dale’s right, Fort Benning is a long way from Atlanta. It’s on the opposite side, actually, so it’ll take a lot of fuel. And who knows if we might be lucky fuel wise.  So I’d take my chances with the CDC.” The wizard honestly expected another argument as to why they should go to Fort Benning.

“So you are giving CDC a shot?” Harry asks, his eyes obviously unsettling the now squirming man. 

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t tell Rick I said anything, I’ll tell the bastard myself.”

“Ok.” 

 

~

“Did you see that fire last night?” Rick had asked one morning after they were all packed up for the long trek towards the CDC. “Harry?”

Harry admittedly froze, squeaking almost. He did not realize anyone was paying attention to the other side of camp during the fray. Given majority of the group stood their ground against the hoard, Harry thought the bloodlust would effectively camouflage his magic. It seems it did not. But the look of wonder on Rick’s face did Harry in.

“Uh… what fire?” He played ignorant, playing the fool. 

Rick went silent. It was after a few moments of amass scrutiny from the man did the officer finally say something. “Must have been my imagination, I swore I saw someone use a flamethrower to burn walkers into bacon during the fight last night. But everything was happening quickly, sorry I interrupted your packing, Har.” He shook his head and bent down to help his friend pack whatever it was his friend was packing into Harry’s backpack.

Harry sighed in relief. He almost keeled over the bench he’s perched on. “Must have been. And it is okay, I got everything packed up and ready.” Harry smiled appreciatively. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” Rick smiled. “See you in the RV.” 

“See you.” Harry waved.

There were times Harry really wanted to confide in Rick. Hesitance, however, overtakes him. He has never told a muggle about his magic since his relatives withheld the information from him, and since then his trust in muggles dwindled in time after the war. Being friends with Draco had a hand with it, but it was mostly because his relatives shredded his hopes and expectations of a family since the moment he arrived on their doorstep. Muggles tend to hold onto this foolish hatred whenever something new, something different appears. It never ends well because muggles tend to fear what is different, and once they realize how advantageous magic is, they will revolt. Like witches and wizards, muggles are greedy especially with power.

He did not know, nor did he want to know, how Rick will react to a wizard in their midst. The wizard worried if he told Rick of his magic, will the officer’s opinion on Harry change? Or will they remain the same? Will he blame his magic on this damning apocalypse, or will he blame Harry himself? The wizard would rather bury himself than lose another friend, not when he gained some since his most recent loss. 

“Not gonna tell Officer Friendly, are we?” Merle says abruptly, pulling Harry from his thoughts. 

The wizard blinks at the brash man in front of him, peppered with blood and dirt. Oddly, he found a friend in Merle despite his unfortunate comeuppance back on the roof purely for his disregard of the human race. It was quite funny listening to his odd clemencies and tirades, but he kept bringing up Harry’s ‘ _ mojo _ ’ as if it was just a drop of water, no care whatsoever. 

Harry beckons Merle to help him with the last body they were trashing. “Not everyone is like you, Merle.” He comments.

Merle nods in agreement. “It ain’t about keepin’ an open mind about your mojo there, you poncey boy. I owe you a favor ‘cause you saved my worthless ass, not like everyone who  _ fucking  _ abandoned me.” The man knew how to prolong a grudge, Harry notices. “So I’ll keep my tongue from wagglin’ about that mojo of yours until you fuck up.”

Harry watched Merle haul the walker’s body over his shoulder effortlessly, beckoning for Harry to lead him towards the working pyre. “Oh, and when am I supposedly exposing myself, Merle?”

“It’s inevitable.” Merle smirks. “Don’t look at me like that, I learn a thing or two hangin around your ass for weeks on end.”

“I’m just shocked you’re using a ten letter word,” Harry teases, poking Merle’s head with the tip of his staff. “Thanks Merle.”

“Eh.” Merle salutes. His legs wrapped around his motorcycle seat, smirking at Harry when the man gave a fearful glance at the confounding machine. “What you scared of my baby? Who you ridin’ with anyway?”

“Shut up. Anyway, I’ll probably ride with Rick and the others.” Harry smile. “Are you meeting us there?”

“Nah, I’m following the RV when we set out.” 

Harry nods his head. “Sounds good.”

~

“Morgan, I don’t know if you’re out there. I don’t know if you can hear me. Maybe you’re listening right now. I hope so. I found others. My family if you can believe it. And a man, a good man. Name’s Harry Black, a doctor.” Rick chuckles against the walkie-talkie as he speaks fondly of the man. 

“Saw him on the highway and all the man could do is smile.” The smile replaced itself with a frown. “We were attacked last night, we lost a lot, but all the doc could do was smile. Reminds me, the group agreed on going to Atlanta to see if the CDC isn’t a bust. But don’t come to the city with your boy, Morgan. Avoid the city. It’s dangerous. It belongs to the dead now. We’re camped a few miles northwest, up by a big abandoned rock quarry. You can see it on the map. If you can, come find us. We’re prepared to move in to Atlanta, and if it is a bust we’re leaving. Watch yourself, Morgan. Take care of that boy of yours. I’ll try you again tomorrow at dawn.” 

~

“You must be Carl.” Harry smiles and waves at the little boy who poked his head out from Rick’s broad shoulders. “Nice to finally meet you, your dad always spoke at great lengths about you.”

“Like what?” Carl asks, curious. The man before him did not seem so bad. 

“Like when you got this crush on this girl named, what was her name? Carla? That sweet girl with the pigtails and always wore a sunday dress to school?” Harry chuckles at Carl’s embarrassed, flustered face. “Oh and he also talks about how proud he is in all of your accomplishments.”

“Dad!” Carl punched his father’s chest playfully, hiding himself from Harry’s amused gaze in Rick’s shirt. “Why’d you tell him all that stuff?”

Rick simply laughs. “It ain’t that bad, Carl.” He says fondly. 

“If it helps, whilst we were on our little adventure together, your father nearly screamed when a rat scurried past his feet. It almost garnered the attention from a few walkers nearby, but nevertheless, your father was scared of a little rodent.” Harry says, looking anywhere but Rick. 

It was true, nonetheless. And Rick had had to accept that he was scared of a rodent, nevermind the man’s bloated pride. 

“Really?”

“Really.” Harry nods, hiding his amusement and keeping a straight face much to the amusement of the onlookers. “There was also this one time –”

“I think that is enough from you, Harry.” Rick gave a strained smile and kept his hand firmly placed over the doctor’s lips, stymieing any attempts in embarrassing him further. “I didn’t tell Carl about the time you almost used a rock to bust through metal.”

“That’s dumb.” Carl comments, a giggle spewing out from him when he garnered a gibberish protest from Harry. “Who would use a rock against metal? Metal is stronger!” 

“Harry thought it would be a good idea.” Rick shrugs. 

Rick’s eyes widened when Harry had the gall to lick his hands. Immediately, Rick went to wipe his hand against his shirt only for Harry to smack him with his staff, softly.

“That is what you get.” Harry pouts. “For injuring my pride and keeping your hands over my mouth.”

Carl laughed at the two, bright amusement alight in his bright, blue eyes. It wasn’t until Rick’s wife, who found the scene and decided to take matters in her own hands.

“If you two could stop being children, we could get a move on.” Lori, the lovely wife and mother of the two Grimes, cuts in with a glare for the two men. 

Harry did not know why but the woman seemed antagonistic with the doctor. He knew they had a disagreement for one thing when it comes to the group: Letting Merle and Daryl put the dying survivors out of their misery. She kept raving on about moral code and whatnot, then letting the two ‘rednecks’ – as she so often calls the  Dixon brothers – kill them without any hesitance obviously hit a nerve. At the time, Harry thought what she said was true, but given how everybody was affected by the fight last night except the two brothers – well the decision has already been made. The matron always said,  _ emotions would always get in the way. _

Ever since then, Harry and Lori’s non-existent relationship strained. 

“We were just talking with Carl, Jesus Lori.” Rick rubs the back of his head.   
  
“Since we are listening to a stranger make decisions about where we have to go, I would think the stranger himself would put the move as a priority.”

“Instead of looking at your husband and directing an insult on my person towards him, I wouldn’t be opposed to being looked at whilst your tongue lashes out about me.” Harry remarks. “Furthermore, Shane was the one who made the decision and your husband was the one who brung it up in the first place. It isn’t I who made the decision for Shane to choose between his own idea and Rick’s, but his, obviously. And if you can’t take it, then you’ll have to deal with it.”

“You mean nothing to the group. You don’t give a shit about others, you care about yourself!” Lori accuses, a fierce glare pinning Harry with figurative daggers. “You let the Dixons kill the others when their life isn’t even over. It wasn’t even your call!” 

“Merle and Daryl were the only ones who had no qualms with killing any of the other survivors, given the survivors they had to kill were already hopeless. And since none of you were inclined to kill them, it was a smart decision in the long run. Unless, of course, you would rather see them live and wait for them to turn. Then we wouldn’t have to worry about surviving because we would all be a meal.” Harry deadpans. “It was difficult on my part given I had to authorize their euthanization, but the decision was made when the survivors could no longer survive.”

“There it is,  _ authorizing  _ you are no one to authorize someone else’s death!” Lori exclaims. “We don’t even know if it is just the bite that kills them!”

Harry quirked his head. “Oh? So a bite does not lead to your death? Funny, why don’t we test that theory out? Get bitten by a walker, and see how long it would take for the virus to fester into your bloodstream, ultimately killing you and rotting you from the inside out. Watch early putrefaction take place in your body, early decomposition violating your tissues and your bone marrow, and see how long you are standing without craving human flesh. Then ask yourself this moments before your brain shuts down, did Harry Black make the right decision?” 

“How dare you–”

“I’m done arguing with you. It isn’t worth my time.” Harry shakes his head. “Given your stupid argument, you still have delusions of normalcy when everything is just the opposite. People are eating people, lest your ignoring that fact I would call you massively ignorant. Now, since you brought up leaving the encampment as a priority, I guess it is a priority as of now. I’ll see you guys at the C.D.C.” 

When Harry stormed off, a pin dropped. Silence dawned over the entire group who watched the proceedings with interest. Dale watched on, shaking his head at the woman. Rick went off to catch up with Harry, calling his name repeatedly with Shane following suit. Carl was looking rather stormy himself, wondering if he should stay with his mother or follow his dad so he could go find Harry as well. The only ones who found the entire proceedings amusing were the two Dixon brothers, particularly the oldest.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen the little guy mad.” Merle snorts. “Better watch your back if I were you, sugartits.” 

~

The next day, the group decided today would be the day they would finally move on out into the mousetrap that is Atlanta, Georgia. Unfortunately, they lost Morales and his family when they decided they needed to be with their people. Shane and Rick gave him a pat on the back and some guns for the road, and Harry handed them a first aid-kit he duplicated and a couple of supplies he thought they would need on the road. They gave their goodbyes and went off down from the quarry. Afterwards, everything went back to hustling.

“May I help you?” Harry asks the next day when Rick and Shane came over to his current position. On the floor, he was taking in personal inventory on his own things, which was stuffed in his backpack before their eventual departure. But he was interrupted by two large shadows looming over him. 

“You okay?” Shane, shockingly, was the one to ask the question before his former cop partner could open his mouth. 

Harry nods. What Lori told him the other day that he did not matter to the group, it stung. Though he is not the type to cry about it, words still hurt. “Yeah, I’m alright.” 

“You sure?”

“I’m okay, both of you.” Harry smiles. “My emotions gotten to the best of me. I’m sorry if I offended any of you yesterday…”

“More like you gave Lori a piece of your mind.” Shane says, amused. He was still a bit achy with the whole affair thing. 

“Is there anything we need to know before we set out?” Rick asks, picking up the stabilizer for Harry. 

“Thank you.” He aimed a gracious smile at Rick. “No, not at the moment. Though I do wonder if any of you would accompany me into the woods… I need to pick out some herbs.”

“Herbs? What do you need them for?” Shane queries, crossing his arms in thought. “You makin’ potions or somethin’?”

That hit too close to home. Harry’s shoulders tensed. “Of sorts. I thought I could make some salves considering some natural fauna may have potential healing properties. It always helps, especially with minor injuries in order to avoid infection.” 

“It would also be sad to die because of an infection.” Shane quips, eliciting a laugh from the two. 

Harry inhales.“That is true.” He exhales while also getting off from the floor. Dusting off his pants, he strapped on his backpack and aimed a look at them both. “So who’s the poor sap accompanying me, hm?”

~

“Shane?”

Shane glanced over at the voice. “Lori? What’re you doing here?” 

He was standing inside of his tent, wondering if he needed anything dire before the move. Unfortunately, the guns he gave Morales were the last few he could spare so it dropped the stock drastically lower. On the upside, they had less mouths to feed. His thoughts were interrupted, however, by Lori who poked her head inside of his tent. 

“I thought we could, you know…” Lori whispers, running her hands against his belt. “Before we move on…”

Shane shook his head, already feeling the arousal tenting his pants. “Not now, Lori. Can’t you see that I’m busy? Why don’t you get it on with your husband since he’s back?” 

Lori scoffs, freezing her actions. “Like he’s givin’ me any attention. His attention been all on that  _ doctor  _ he brought back here like a stray, mangy mutt.” 

“Don’t call Harry that…” Shane defended. 

“Oh now you’re taking his side too, huh? You’ve changed, Shane. You’re usually not this  _ friendly  _ with strangers albeit that man who came out of nowhere. Who knows what he’s done with Rick while he was out there, doing who knows what!” 

“That  _ mutt  _ proved his worth in the camp plenty of times in a short amount of time, mind you.” Shane shot back. He scoffed after ripping Lori off of his pants. 

“You know what? I ain’t gonna take this crap.” Lori says abruptly before leaving.

Shaking his head, Shane rolled his eyes at the air and cursed God for his luck with women. He did not really know why he’s been flaunting inside of Lori for the longest time, she was confusing. One minute she’s telling him that what they had was over and the next, she’s extremely needy. It is like he walked in a sordid Hallmark movie. The woman cannot make up her goddamn mind and Shane is having enough of it. Huffing in a frustrated, bated breath, Shane started packing more stuff into his duffel bag.

~

“You came to join us.” Harry waves at a sheepish looking Shane. “How fares ye with little faith?” 

“Shut up Harry.” The former officer glares at the cheeky brit who simply gave him a grin before hopping away towards another bush. “You okay there Rick?”

“Shit, I think I got poison ivy in my ass.” Rick complained yet still kept on that stoic mask on his face. “What’re you doin’ here? Didn’t you oppose to this idea, Shane?”

“I oppose on a lot of things don’t mean I ain’t interested.” Shane raised a brow when Rick chuckled in response. “Just tryna keep my minds off of things here, you know? A lot of our people are dead after what happened last night.”

“I get the feeling even Harry could relate to you.” Rick says, eyeing the back of the carefree man hopping to each bush with a sense of purpose. “We’ve all been shaken up.”

“Can we not broach this subject? I’d rather keep my mind off everything that had occurred.” Harry approached the two with a basket full of different shaped leaves and brown roots. He offered them a water bottle each with an energy bar. “You got any, Rick?”

“You only gave me a few seconds to look at the picture before you dragged me into this forest!” Rick defended when Harry narrowed his eyes at the empty basket resting on the dirt. Shane snorted, muffling it with his hands after receiving a mighty glare from his brother in all but blood. “I don’t even know what we’re looking for!”

Harry chuckled. “It’s okay, Rick. You didn’t have to come but I’m humbled you did. Shane too, even though he did not do anything but came here to distract you, it seems.”

“Hey! I was so doing something.” Shane glanced at anywhere but Harry. “Just supervising and stuff.”

“Uh-huh.” Harry drawls fondly. 

Shane scoffs. Shaking his head, he glances at Rick. “Anyway, you two should head back to camp. We’re prepared to leave we’re just waiting up for you guys.”

“Yes, sir!” Harry saluted before hobbling off to the camp with the basket swinging around. 

“The guy’s a character.” Shane snorts. 

Rick chuckles. “Yeah, yeah he is.”

~

“What you got there, Harry?”

Harry was on the floor of the RV, which was currently in motion, recounting the herbs and roots he picked from the forest prior to their departure. He was no Neville Longbottom, who was a master in such things, but he knew his way around plants. Until Amy decided to add in her two cents, looking over Harry’s shoulder as he counted in his mind

The wizard blinked before looking at the girl. “Just herbs. Like echinacea, chamomile, herbs that I know could prove valuable in the long run. We barely have enough medicine for the whole group, and since there are no medical institutions left running, herbs and the natural fauna would have to do.” And it would give him the potential resources in brewing up some potions for the group, but that did not need to be said.

“That’s smart.” Amy nods in acknowledgement. “You know I’ve never met anyone as intelligent as you are, Harry. Except my sister but you know, she’s my sister.”  
  
“My resourcefulness outweighs my intelligence, it seems.” Harry graciously prided in the compliment, but he’d rather his ego stay low before overconfidence seduced him into doing something he should not. “But thank you. However, I’d rather know we have everything we need without worrying about it in the long run.” 

“So, give me the gossip. What do you think about the two leaders in our little group, hm?” Amy says, a drastic change in subject in which Harry did not see coming.

Blinking rapidly, Harry honestly did not know how to respond. “I like them both?”

“Oh c’mon, you can’t just say that. They’ve been all over you since you popped into camp.” 

“That was just for a few days though…” Harry looked at the rapidly changing scenery outside of the RV. 

“Yeah but every second they got, they spend it with you. Now why is that, hm?” Amy quirks her head with a very creepy grin on her face. “C’mon you cannot not say you are not interested in them, or at least one of them. Or maybe both, I don’t know how you role.” 

“Actually I wanna hear this too.” Not so surprising that Andrea, Amy’s sister, decides to join in on the fun. Badger Harry for the day! “I mean, c’mon, if you hadn’t notice the two basically hound you all the time back in the quarry, then you’re pretty daft yourself doc.” 

“But it was just a few days...” he argues weakly than he originally intended it to be. 

“C’mon Harry, just tell us. We’re not going to tell on you to the two of them. It will be our little secret.” Amy says, sealing her lips for emphasis. 

“Rick has a wife…” Harry muttered. This got the girl’s laughing and Harry staring at them in confusion.

“If you hadn’t realized, Rick’s wife ain’t so pure. She’s been going at it like rabbits with Shane in the woods. They ain’t gonna last long, if you tell me. I may be a civil rights attorney, but I’ve seen affair cases like these pop up all over the board. The wife gets bored and lonely when her husband is off doing something important, or even heart threatening, so they cheat. Usually with someone that they are close with, usually a family friend. The same could be said about males, especially males, but it isn’t the case as of now.” Andrea supplies with a smirk. “Anyway, I can put two and two together especially when they abandon their duties for a quick fuck out in the woods.” 

“Language, Andrea.” Dale wanted to sound stern but his amused smile belied his tone. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Andrea waved dismissively at Dale. 

“So you’re interested in Rick?” 

Harry shakes his head. Amy and Andrea’s eyes both widened in shock. “Wait, wait, wait. You’re interested in Shane? Tall, dark, and handsome Shane who will have no qualms in sticking it in another man’s wife?” 

“I didn’t need to know that, and yes I am… He’s attractive…”

“That’s why you turned tomato red when we were talking about him back at camp.” Amy blinked. “How the hell did I not see it?”

“Because we were about to be eaten?” Harry questions.   


“You right.” Amy nods, snorting in her hands. 

“But, hey, you gotta admit. The guy is pretty hot.” Andrea nods. “You got a thing for bad boys, huh Harry?”

“You can say that…” Harry nods. “Or I have a thing for troubled souls.”

“Or that,” Andrea nods in respect. “What about Rick, got eyes on him too?”

“As of now, I don’t think I can really say that I am interested. Lori already thinks I am a burden to the group, add on homewrecker might lead me on her hitlist.” 

“I think you already got yourself in her book after what happened with her, you know, accusing you and everything.” Amy reminds the chagrining Harry. “What was that about anyway?”

“Nothing really. We just had a minor disagreement, she made a mountain out of a molehill even when the damage has already been done.”

“On the most part, I agree with Harry.” The three all glanced up at Dale who was about to give them a wise lecture. “We need to do the things we need to do for survival. Being safe and cautious with everything will assure that, but Lori does not seem to understand it.”

“Let’s just drop it and pray the CDC is still up and running.” 

“Yeah, we should…” Amy nods her head in agreement.

~

_ WILDFIRE MSB3417  _ **ACTIVE… BEGIN TRANSMISSION**

~

“Rick you lead us into a graveyard…”

It was a graveyard, Harry concurred. Corpses littered the front, blood painted the pavement, and abandoned military equipment – empty M16s, tanks, and even a helicopter near the outer edge. Sandbag barricades reinforced the security, it seemed, as well as some wooden pikes. What seemed like citizens covered the outside of the dilapidated barrier circumventing the entire plaza in the front, it disconcerted Harry when he saw a pile of human  _ belongings  _ near the barriers as well. 

“Oh my God… Why’re we still here? It’s useless, no one’s there!” Glenn complained, looking at Harry for an answer. All the doctor could muster was a shake of his head. 

“Rick you lead us into a graveyard, man!” Shane shot a glare at Rick when they came to the front, metal door. “Look there is no one in there. Door is electronic, metal, automatic. The power’s down, there is no way we can get in. How do you expect us to find anywhere to stay when it is this close to dark and in the middle of an entire  _ infestation _ ?”

Just to add salt to the wound, he raised his arms in the air. Dark was coming, steadily. Though Harry really did not think fighting was a better option in this tense situation, he simply watched behind the group for any movement, or anything worth checking out. His heart went out to the kids who whimpered and wondered when they will find somewhere to stay. 

“Why don’t you guys try something other than fight, huh?” Jim recommends, his eyes watching the camera in curiosity. “Do you guys get this feeling we’re being watched?”

“Yeah, bum. We’re being watched by the dead that’s encircling us right now. Unless we can get that door open, we’re fucking screwed.” Merle points out. 

As Merle and Daryl defended against the southwest breach with their silent weaponry, Jim and the two officers pounded on the door mercilessly. Harry quickly brandished his bo staff, readying himself for any action to come.

“Let’s get out of here, Rick!” 

“No. No. C’mon.” Rick looks up. “The camera – it moved!”

Dale shook his head. “You imagined it.”

“I swear it fucking moved.” Rick says. 

“Rick, it is dead, man. It’s an automated device. It’s gears, okay? They’re just winding down. Now come on!” Shane tried grabbing at the man but, instead, he was shoved away.   
  
“Please, we’re desperate!” He practically begs in front of the camera where  _ he knows  _ someone was watching. “Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left.” 

“Rick, there’s nobody here…”

“We have nowhere else to go.” He continued pounding on the door, no mind towards the offending walkers advancing on the group.

“You’re killing us!"

“Please! Rick, let’s go!”

“C’mon buddy, let’s go…” 

“Please help us… You’re killing us! You’re killing us!” He pounded on the door much harder than before, Harry worried he might end up with contusions marking his hands. “You’re killing us, please! Please let us in!” 

A bright light blinded the group when Shane dragged Rick away from the door. 

~

A gun cocks in the distance. 

A tall, short-dusty blond haired man stood at one end of the hallway. His hands held a rifle, aimed at the group. He wore a simple dirty, gray hemmed shirt with jeans that seen better days, and worn shoes. His features told Harry a story, from the acid burns on his left cheek, his haunted dark-brown eyes, and the way he held himself was soldier-like. The man was wary, and he is meant to be because he invited strangers into the building he oversees. 

“Anybody infected?” The man asks, his stance tense. 

“No, nobody.” Rick had his hands in the air, shaking his head rather desperately. 

The man considered them, inclining his head. “Why are you here? What do you want?"

“A chance.”

The man scoffs. “That’s asking an awful lot these days.”

“I know.” Rick nods. 

The stranger looks at everyone, once again, considering them with an analytical eye. That is, until his eyes landed on Harry. Harry himself gave him a weary smile before finding the ground rather interesting. The man simply shook his head thereafter, thinking nothing of it as of now. 

“You all submit to a blood test. That’s the price of admission."

Rick nods fervently. “We can do that.”

The man lowered is weapon. “You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed.” 

~

“VI, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here.” 

Something transmitted in response to the man’s request. Harry looked up, wondering what it could be. 

“Rick Grimes.” Rick proffered his hand for the man, which was grabbed momentarily.

“Dr. Edwin Jenner.”

Harry blinked at the man after he found nothing on the ceiling. The man certainly did not look like a doctor, but he knew looks could be deceiving.

“Doctors always go around packing heat like that?” Daryl spoke up. “Aiming that shit at my head for no reason.”

“There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless.” Jenner looked at the kids with hardened eyes which belied itself with amusement. “Except you two, I’ll have to keep my eye on you.” 

Carl and Sophia smiles shyly at the doctor. Harry shook his head in amusement and continued staring at the man next to Rick. He watched as the doctor’s smile he held for the kids die soon after they departed from the elevators. Leading into a hallway, Jenner told them there has been other survivors looking to get into the CDC in order to straggle anything they can. It was a mean to justify himself for the group given his lack of action back in the plaza, Harry realized, which the group easily accepted.

“VI, bring up the lights in the big room.”

The room hummed and beeped. Suddenly, the room became a bit brighter though duller in color. 

“Welcome to Zone 5” 

“Where is everybody?” Rick asks. “The other doctors, the staff?”

“I’m it… It’s just me here in this big, lonely building.” Jenner placed on a stoic mask.

“What about the person you were speaking with? VI?” Lori glanced in every direction, wondering if there was a second person sneaking about.

Jenner shakes his head. “VI, say hello to our guests. Tell them… Welcome.” 

An automatic response came from a female, robotic voice resonating through the building. “Hello, guests. Welcome.” 

Jenner bowed his head. “I’m all that’s left. I’m sorry.”

~

“How’ve you been?” Jenner asks Harry when he finally got to the peculiar man. “You seem different from the rest.”

“How do you mean?” Harry questioned. 

“I don’t know.” He stuck the needle into Harry’s vein. The wizard winced, but relaxed. “You just seem different, calm. Usually people these days are desperate, willing to do anything when they know they’re about to die.”

“I would think it is a required criterion for being a human being. People may say that death does not scare them, but when you really put that theory to the test… the results are usually the same. What I think, however, is that death must be the next great adventure! Or I may be recalling a rather baffling old coot who told me after springing up like a spring chicken.” 

Jenner chuckled. “That is an interesting philosophy to follow. If only people would hold up to such things.”

“It is my opinion on the matter anyway.” Harry smiled at the man. “What about you? What philosophy do you follow?”

“Oh. The boring ones. You know, ‘live life to the fullest!’ or ‘you only live once!’ those types of sayings. They’re what my wife says anyway before we fall asleep, she would always remind me the day we got married and recited our vows. ‘I will always be the type of person to live life to the fullest, but as of now, I am doing it with you. So  _ we  _ will live our lives to the fullest, together.’” Jenner chuckles fondly. “And we did. For the longest time we enjoyed each other’s company as we travelled, mostly for the job, but we did have some compensations. Tibet. Japan. Montreal. Ibiza. For the job on the most part, but flying in first-class, enjoying caught shrimp and some martinis. That was the life, haha.” 

“I bet.” Harry rested his hands on Jenner. “I bet your wife loved you very much.”

Jenner’s eyes dimmed. “God I hope she did. I loved her with my entire wellbeing that’s for sure.”

Harry gave the man a comforting smile before his transfusion ended.    


“Thank you for the talk.” Jenner cleared his throat. “I better get to the rest of the transfusions before we’re standing here like waiting deer.” 

Harry simply nods.

 

~

“T could you pass the chicken and the pasta?” Harry asks and the man complies with a buzzed smile. “You seem relaxed.”

“It’s the alcohol man! Fine wine! Booyah!” The african-american cheers with his fists in the air. 

Dinner came with a sense of merriment, of fun and joy. The atmosphere became bustling, Harry noticed, with everyone smiling and laughing at – some – drunken antics. It amused Harry, but it also got him smiling even though he worries for there hangover– especially Glenn, who drank a whole entire bottle by himself – the day after. Fortunately, Dr. Jenner provided water so the drunks could rehydrate themselves. 

At one corner, he can see Merle balancing a drumstick on the tip of his nose, and his brother waiting for the right moment to tip it off balance. In another, Glenn threw himself on T Dog’s lap and told him how much of a best friend the man has been. On the right, Rick and Shane were testing their strengths against each other by administering a rather ridiculous game, arm wrestling. Harry walked closer to see who was winning and in odd satisfaction, he noticed that Shane was winning over Rick. 

Rick inevitably won by turning the tides. As his prize, he received a kiss from his wife. Shane’s face grew thunderous when the two’s lips met, before he went back to eating his food. Seeing this, Harry inhaled a breath, mustering any Gryffindor courage he saved up since Voldemort, and sat by Shane. The man glanced at the wizard looking a bit frazzled, but inevitably smiled when he noticed it was Harry. 

“Hey you.” He raised a brow. “What brought this on?”

The wizard blinked, processing current information very slowly. Harry bowed his head in embarrassment when he realized what he was doing. He unintentionally started wiping Shane’s face with a napkin, thinking he had some of the mashed potato smeared on his cheek. Reality check, there was nothing there.   
  
“Sorry, I just –”

“Nah, you good, man.” 

“I just –”

“Har, you’re good.” Harry blinks at the nickname. “Sorry, can I not call you that?”

Harry shook his head. “Yeah, yeah you can call me that. Rick does anyway, so why not you?” 

“So what do you think of this place, hm? We safe here?” Shane asks, moving towards the empty space near another corner with Harry following him.

Harry sighs. “Admittedly, I have a bad feeling. You know. A gut feeling you get, but for now? Let’s just enjoy what we have sitting in front of us.

“True. What do you think happened here?"

“Like everything, I bet. Chaos. No one understood what was happening and so, they either escaped or died trying. Evidence lies back outside. Military defense did not work, therefore a lot died. Jenner seems like the man to keep trying despite, well, everything going against him.” Harry quirks his head. “Why do you ask?”

“I mean doesn’t it strike you weird that the guy hasn’t left?”

Harry shrugs. “Why don’t you ask?” 

“I’m about to.”

Shane saw Jenner walking through the door, who scanned the area. He perked up when he saw Harry huddled in the corner with Shane and opted to walk towards them instead of Rick who was currently teasing his son. 

“What’s up?” He asks, his hands cradling a glass of wine. 

“What happened here?”

Jenner took a sip of the wine. “Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families.” He shook his head. “And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted. Some died right outside. Gruesome to watch your own friends die at the hands of the dead.”

“Every last one?”   


“No, many couldn’t face walking out the door. They… well, they opted out another way. There was a rash of suicides. What I call, the Great Purge. That was a bad time, really, it was.” 

“You didn’t leave. Why?”

“I just kept working, hoping to do some good.” Jenner shrugs, taking another big sip from his cup. “Why don’t you two get back to celebrating, the faster you guys eat, the faster you guys can sleep. I’ll show you where you guys will be staying after.” 

 

~

Later that night, Harry bent down to unpack his sleepwear he had since his fifth year in Hogwarts. A matching set, striped and baggy with several stains, but still overall clean. He placed it on the dresser for later use, wrapping a towel around his lithe waist while he is at it, and turning off the light to head off to the bathroom. 

Something stopped him by the door. Or, rather, someone.

“Hey.” Harry blinked his vision into focus.

“Hey, yourself.” Harry greets. “What’re you doing here?”

“Came to see you.” 

Harry blushed. “Uh… why, may I ask?”

“Just cause. Can I come in?”

Harry sputtered and fumbled a bit. “Uh, yeah. Make yourself comfy… I’m gonna take a shower real quick, you think you can wait up for me?” 

“I was thinking…” Arms encircled around Harry, pulling him against a broad, muscled chest. “Maybe I can persuade you into joining me.” Hot breath brushed against Harry’s sensitive skin, making the man shiver in either euphoria or something akin to being weirded out.

“Shane you’re drunk…”   


Shane nuzzled Harry’s neck. “It’ll take a lot of beers to take lil ole me out. That fucking pussy juice the doctor gave us did not do shit.” He drawls. 

“That is the understatement of the century.” Harry deadpans. His eyes widened he felt a pair of lips press against the crook of his neck. “Shane? What are you doing?”

“Trying to get you to shower with me.” Shane smiled at Harry, droopy eyes and all. Harry was never convinced the man was ever sober. “Is it working?”

“No.” Harry drolls. “Shane you’re going to regret it tomorrow. On behest of your own pride, I suggest you walk away now.”

Shane shook his head. “Nah. Let’s go take a shower, together. You and me. Under steamy, hot, hot water.” He whispers against Harry’s reddening ears. “I’ve seen the way you look at me. Your sneaky glances, your wandering eyes, I’ve seen it all.”

“So?” 

Shane pressed his lips against Harry’s, shocking the wizard. “I don’t know, so what? Just join me in the shower, alright?” He pressed another kiss on Harry’s lips before dragging him towards the bathroom. Pulling away was futile given the man is five times stronger than Harry will ever be, but he has a sense of propriety to retain!

Shane! C’mon, you’re intoxicated. You’re going to regret this in the morning.”  
  
“There’s a lot of things I do regret, this ain’t one.” Shane bellows. They both stood stock still, silent. Harry’s eyes widened when Shane started stripping in front of him. “You’re joining me.” 

“Shane…”   


“No, Harry.” He entrapped Harry between his arms, pushing him against the wall softly. The wizard watched sadness overwhelm Shane’s usual stoic countenance, leaving his face scrunched up with tears threatening to stream down his face. “I don’t want to be alone again…” 

“You’re not alone, Shane. You got Lori, you got Rick –”

“They left me!” Shane yelled. “They left me for each other. I thought he was dead, she thought he was dead. So we lived through it together, with each other. And now he comes back and strips everything I worked my ass off for, just like that. Now she can barely look at me without seeing a liar.” 

“I know I heard…” Harry whispers.

“Then don’t, just don’t. Don’t-don’t leave me, Har…” Shane placed his head on Harry’s nape. “Don’t leave, please… please… please…”

Harry sighed, patting Shane’s head as he enveloped the man in a tentative embrace. “I won’t leave, I won’t leave…” He felt burning tears pressing against his shoulders. “It’s okay, sh… sh…”

Shane pressed another kiss against Harry’s nape. 

Harry wheeled his shoulders a bit. “How about we take a shower together? No touching. I’ll be right here, okay?” 

Shane nods, his head bowed. 

Harry breathed in a long sigh when Shane turned his back from him. His back muscles were extremely attractive, but Harry looked away rather quickly, embarrassed for staring. Instead, he turned on the water for both of them to soak in just to distract himself. 

Merlin, he hope he could survive this.

 

~

The wizard did not sleep, at all last night. Not with what had happened with Shane and the shower, all of it caught up to him, rendering him awake for the night. Shane slept in his bed the night after their eventful shower. What did not help with the matter was Shane wrapping his arms around Harry as he slept. Time felt frozen thereon. Fortunately, Harry found a way to escape Shane’s muscled arms and fled to the kitchen. 

To keep from pondering on his thoughts, he distracted himself with cooking. He hasn’t a half a mind on what he is doing with the weird ingredients, as specified on the packages, but he felt he was doing it correctly. Pouring fluffy eggs on a platter, strips of bacon, sausages, and pancakes for the kids kept Harry smiling. In before he saw shadows walking towards the kitchen.

Harry watched as people walked into the kitchen with a frown filled with regret on their faces. First was T-Dog who asked Harry when he let him drink so much, but was quickly appeased with eggs shoved in his mouth. The next were the kids, whose eyes were impossibly wide when they saw freshly-cooked chocolate chip pancakes served on a porcelain platter.

“Did you cook all this, Harry?” Carol asks while smiling in gratitude. “This all looks good.”

Harry nods, offering the usually meek young woman a small smile. “I did. I had an early morning, thought I would whip up a platter fit for Englishmen. Coffee?” 

“Yes please.”

“Oh my god, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen bacon.” Amy basically drooled with Andrea following close behind. “God, Harry. You’re a doctor, a gardener, and now a cook? If anyone does not call dibs on you Harry, I would.” 

Harry shook his head feeling slightly embarrassed, and a bit red. “Juice or Coffee, Amy? Andrea?”

“Juice please, Harry.”

“Coffee for me! Two cream and four sugars, if you can.” 

“We’ll take some OJ please, Mister Harry!” Sophia and Carl both offered up their empty cups with beaming smiles plastered on their faces. “Uhm, please, Mister Harry.” Sophia adds with a shy smile. 

“Of course.” Harry was happy to oblige. 

“Wow…” Glenn says. “Ow, shi– shoot…”

Harry smirked in amusement. Grabbing the flask he saved for special occasions, he placed it in Glenn’s hands while ignoring the face of confusion the teen had on his face.“Nice save. Why don’t you take some of this? A herbal remedy I whipped up for nausea and headaches. I call it my Hangover Potion.” 

A few joined in Glenn’s giggling paroxysm before imbibed it with a grimace. “Dude that’s disgusting. What was in it?”   


“Newt eyes.” Harry quipped. Glenn sputtered much to Harry’s and the group’s amusement, bar Lori who rolled her eyes. “Just some herbs I picked out before left the quarry. Did not say that it’ll taste like sugar plums or rainbows.” 

Glenn pouted, but nodded in thanks. 

“Just drink some orange juice and you will be okay.” Harry smiles and pat the teen’s shoulders in before he got a face full of Shane. “Hey…”

Shane coughed. “Hey… uh… thanks… for letting me stay in your room for the night.” He whispers after Glenn left to gather some food. 

Harry blinks but nods all the same. “Of course, anything for a friend.” 

“Did I do anything, before I blacked out anyway? I just remember drowning myself with that wine the doctor gave us.” 

Quirking his head, Harry fibbed by shaking his head. “You did not do anything, I assure you. You came to my room and crashed on my bed.”  _ and try to seduce Harry into having a quickie in the shower, while sleeping on the same bed; cajoling the wizard into cuddling before lights out.  _ Was aptly left out, for both of their sakes. “I was weirded out, but I let it be.” 

“Thanks, Harry… again, anyway.” Shane scratched the back of his head sheepishly, giving Harry a boyish grin. “You think I can have some of that hangover potion you got there? The headache is pounding against my head. I know I’ve said that picking herbs out was useless, but I can see the merit now...”

Harry shakes his head, tutting. “You’re a cop, you should know the consequences of drinking incessantly.” He laughs at the flustered man. “Of course you can, here. Just take a sip, and then fill your body up with liquids. It will not work automatically. It might take a few minutes to take effect. Possibly hours, but it will mollify the headache.” 

“You think I can get on some of that?” Rick asks, scratching the top of his head as he walked in the door.   
  
Harry shook his head. “Tsk, tsk. You both are cops and now filling yourself with alcohol, what will your sheriff think about that? Hm, Sheriff Deputy?”  
  
“Ha, ha. You’re so funny, Har. Gimme that.” He swiped the flask from Shane’s hands after Shane did as he was instructed. 

Harry shook his head, offering them a cup of OJ and coffee before they both left to fill up their plates.  

“You know Jacqui would’ve loved this.” Carol comments. “She talked about her coffee dispenser a lot, missing the hot, boiling, bittersweet taste of a nice cup of morning joe. She would’ve enjoyed this had she…”

“It is not your fault, Carol.” Harry patted her shoulders, eyes softening in sympathy. He knew the feeling of survivor’s guilt all too well, given he survived the war where others did not. He survived the gore-fest in St. Mungos, where others did not. 

“If I had been careful, I would not have lost Sophia…” Carol mulled, her head hanging slightly. She looked just as withdrawn when she was with Ed, Harry thought. “Then Jacqui would not have taken the bite for any of us, we would’ve survived…”

“Why don’t we all have a toast, hm? For everyone whose lives were taken from us that very night in the quarry? To Jacqui, to everyone.” He raised his cup of OJ in the air, same goes for everyone else in the kitchen. “To Jacqui, to everyone!”

“To Jacqui, to everyone!” Everyone says in unison, even the kids who were a bit slower. 

Jenner suddenly waltz in with a limp to his step. Harry went to go greet him with a smile, offering a cup of coffee. Jenner nods his head in thanks before standing in front of the table.  
  
“Morning.”

“Hey, Doc.” Shane greets.

Everyone greeted the doctor amiably. Dale, however, stuck his head up in genuine curiosity. He points at the rectangular, digital timer installed on the metal walls where it slowly counts down to something. “Doctor. I don’t mean to slam you with questions first thing –”

“But you will, anyway.” Jenner says, amused if a bit awry.

“We didn’t come here for the eggs.” Andrea comments.  
  
Everyone, bar Harry who was busy staring at his cup and the kids, looked at the doctor. They all wanted answers and the doctor looked less than amiable to oblige. Until now.

“Let me show you guys something…”

~

“Give me a playback of TS-19” Jenner demanded, staring at the big screen in the main control area. 

“ _ Playback of TS-19 _ .” 

The wall display displayed varying three-dimensional interfaces, a viewing of different human skulls. Harry’s eyes were blown wide simply in awe at the wondrous, yet mysterious, brain with different sections of brain activity. Although he is magical in all sense and purposes, he did study a bit in neurology and cognition to understand the basic needs the brain serves, and the terms that came with it. 

“The little dude looks like he had an orgasm.” Merle and his brother chuckled, while Rick and Shane scoffed at the two brothers.

“Is that a brain?” Carl chirps. 

Harry nods, answering Carl’s question before Jenner. Jenner looked a bit interested, too interested in Harry. “An extraordinary one…”  
  
“Indeed.” Jenner nods. “Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V.”

“Synapses…” Harry whispers when the main screen changed from one view to another. The screen skewed a bit, increasing in magnification. Blowing up the picture, the group watches in fascination. Bright blue threads of energy travelled along the brain, some denser than others but travelled together as one. 

“Synapses?”

“Uh-uhm…” Harry muttered, fumbling with his fingers. “It’s essentially a person’s life – experiences, memories. It’s everything we will ever be, and everything that will never be once the organic writing is erased. These describes and codes us, making us unique and, well, human… Scientifically, they are electrical impulses that carry messages in the brain. A synapses action potential…”

Jenner seemed surprise. “That is right. They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death. Are you, perhaps, a neurologist Harry?”

Harry shook his head. “No, I was interested though. But I found my calling elsewhere.” 

Rick quirked a brow. Harry wagered he picked something up with the way Jenner’s face morphed into a grim grimace. “Death? That’s what this is, a vigil?”

Jenner nods slowly. “Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil.”

Andrea chimed in. “This person died? Who?”

Harry watched as Jenner scratched the back of his arm, then his head, then his hand. He seemed nervous. “T-Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected… and volunteered to have us record the process. VI, scan forward to the first event.” 

“ _ Scanning forward _ .” VI complies.

“What is that?” Glenn asks. 

“This thing invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain - well, Harry must know.”

Harry nods. “Once the brain shuts down, so does everything else. Your vital organs, especially. Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be expunged, just like that.”

“Is that what happened to Jacqui, mom?” Sophia whispers. 

Carol sucked in a teary breath, one that did not go unnoticed by the doctor. 

“We all lost someone dear to the group.” 

Jenner looked sympathetic. “I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is.” He turned away in favor of the screen. “Scan to the second event.”  
  
“ _Scanning to second_ _event_.”

“The resurrection times vary wildly. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute… seven seconds.” 

Harry’s eyes narrowed. The display portrayed the brain eliciting some sort of spark in the lower region, the brain stem. Random sparks continue to shoot out into the larger area of the brain, but nothing further. 

“It restarts the brain?” Shockingly, to Harry anyway, Lori asked the question that was on his own tongue.

“No, just the brain ste. Basically it gets them up and moving.”

“But they’re not alive?” Jim asks.

Jenner inclined his head towards the display. “You tell me.”

Rick shakes his head. “It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark.”

“Harry, if you could explain. I don’t think I can, very well anyway.”

Harry nodded, uncomfortable with giving an impromptu lecture. “The frontal lobe, everything we retain – our personality, language, memories, emotions, and thought processes – they do not come back. Our human part, the code that generates us as a human being, is expunged and forged into something different, something grotesque. The you part does not come back. Just a husk driven by primal instincts.” 

The display continued the screenplay. Subject 19 mouths opens and closes, the skull moving sporadically side to side, the shoulders move as if the arms were being lifted. The barrel of a gun appears out of the blue, pointing down on the forehead. And just like that, the sparks were snuffed out and a bullet drowned all the light and tears through the red cluster. It is completely dark, and the subject stopped moving. 

“Oh God. What was that?”

“He shot his patient in the head. Didn’t you?” Amy asks, her fists strikingly white.

“VI, power down the main screen and the workstations.” 

“ _ Powering down main screen and workstations _ .” 

Andrea wrapped her arm around Amy’s petite shoulders, looking at the doctor with a foreboding glare. “You have no idea what it is, do you?”  
  
Jenner shakes his head in response. “It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal…” 

“Or the wrath of God?” Carol suggests. 

“There is that…”

“Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere.” Andrea insists, her speech hasty. 

“There are others, right? Other facilities?”

“There may be some. People like me. There is Harry here, but I highly doubt you worked at the CDC as a neurologist, did you?”

Harry shook his head. “But you don’t know, Dr. Jenner?”

“Everything went down. Communications, directives – all of it. I’ve been in the dark for almost a month, I think. If I had someone like you around here, things would’ve went on smoothly.”

“What do you mean?” Shane walked up in front of Harry. 

“Like I said to you yesterday. Everyone opt out. No one survived, but me. If I had Harry and his expertise, then things would’ve gone more smoothly and we could’ve, mind you could’ve, figured this whole thing out.” He dolefully says. 

“So there’s nothing? Nothing left, anywhere?”

“Man, I’m gonna get shitfaced drunk again.” Daryl groaned. 

“I’m with you on that, brother.”

Dale walked closer to the doctor. “Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hat to ask one more question, but… that clock – I can’t help but noticed it counts down. I’ve seen it in the kitchen. What happens at zero?”

Jenner’s eyes dimmed. “The basement generators – they run out of fuel.”

“And then?” Rick asks. “Jenner? And then?”

Jenner ignores Rick’s question, walking off from the control center. 

  
“VI, what happens when the power runs out?”   
  


“ _ When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur. _ ”

 

~

“We have to get out of here! Harry, go pack up your stuff. Help anyone you can, and meet us  _ here,  _ okay?” Shane orders, eyes wild with worry. Harry quickly scurried off without further instruction, disappearing further into the hallway. “Decontamination, decontamination… fuck, why didn’t we see this before? What does it mean?” 

“I don’t know, dude. I don’t like the way Jenner clammed up. The way he just wandered off like that. Somethin’ fishy is going on.” 

They followed the hallway in the opposite direction. Rick found a map on the wall which held specific directions in CDC jargon, and also directions for the utility room. When they entered the room, the barrels were empty and the gauge on the massive, steel generators read  _ almost empty _ . The lights began to strobe by the time they arrived back at the stairs. 

“ _ Emergency lighting is on _ .” VI announces.

“Hey you guys kill the lights?” Glenn and T-Dog caught up with the group, breathlessly. 

“Nah, it just went out…”

“Anything?”

“Yeah, a lot of dead generators and more empty fuel drums than I can count.”   


“Shit…”

“It can’t be down to just that one…” Shane scoffs, slamming his foot against the wall. “Fuck!”

~

“Hey man, I’m talking to you. What do you mean it’s shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?” Daryl demands, grabbing Jenner by the shoulders and forcefully halting any further advances. “Huh? What now you scared? You ain’t afraid from walking away when someone’s talking to you.”

“Hey, hey, hey Merle put your gun down!” Rick and the others ran towards the worried group huddling in the control center. Shane jogged until he stopped next to Merle. “Put the gun down, now, Dixon!” 

Daryl angrily snatched the bottle out of Jenner’s hands. Jenner himself paused at the steps that lead up to the workstations. Congregating around the doctor, Jenner decided to speak. “It was the French.”

“What is he saying?”

“They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution.”   


Carol moved closer. “What happened?”

“The same thing that’s happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?” He asks, walking around the room in a circle. 

“Let me tell you –” 

“You got our things, Har?” Rick watched as Harry scurried into the room with bags, some carried by Dale and Andrea. The wizard nodded, looking at Jenner warily.

They had a few seconds of silence before the alarm started blaring.

‘What’s that?”   
  
“ _ Thirty minutes to decontamination _ .” 

“What’s goin on?” Daryl demanded. His knife pressed tightly against Jenner’s neck, waiting for the man to speak his piece before he slits his throat. 

“Let’s go. Come on!” 

But it was for naught. The security doors sealed tight. 

“Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!” Glenn declares, banging on the door.

~

Look at all these desperate survivors pounding on the door, looking for a way out. Threats spewing from the tough ones faces, the children are crying against their mother’s shoulders, and the men, bar the peculiar one, are pounding against the door in hopes of survival. Useless actions, piteous at best. He pitied them all. They are all afraid of death, but not the peculiar one.

The peculiar one was different. He had a darkness about him, and he told him himself. Death is the next great adventure! He commends the peculiar one’s proclivity to optimism. But it was for naught, like survival in this new world, it is useless. A quick, painless death is what does good in times like these. No more suffering, no more worrying about death knocking on your front door, and no more worrying period. 

Looking at the green eyes, he could see… the pain, the loss of innocence, the worry… Candace. He reached out, Candace is right there, staring at him. Not with her own eyes, no, but in another. Viridian jewels, just like his precious Candace’s. He wants to tell her, no confide in her, all the things he has done before her untimely dead, the accomplishments, the failures that followed. He wanted to tell her everything, everything he’s done. All the sacrifices he made and the greatest sacrifice he is about to make.

But Candace isn’t looking at him. She’s not looking at him for  _ him _ . Not in the same caring way she did, no, it was different. She looked afraid. Fear. Candace should never be afraid, not with what is happening. She’d always smile and tell him it is okay. Kiss his forehead, his nose, then descend onto his usually chapped lips, inspire it with a small, chaste kiss before she pats his cheek fondly. A caress, an action he wanted to share with Candace again. Candace knew of the sacrifices they make, she knew what entails when she took up the job, she knew everything that is held within the dark doors behind the C.D.C. 

She knew, and yet she still fears. 

She backs away when he goes to touch her, one last time, before the power goes out. He wanted to touch her soft skin, kiss it, and love it once more. He wants to feel alive again. But she backed away. Betraying her feelings for these pesky survivors waiting it out for a mere chance, a menial chance in hopes of surviving. He felt betrayed. But he still went on.

He never did believe in theology or philosophy, regarding them as useless in his empirical eyes, but he believed it now. She’s stood before him, telling the things she told once before. Smile at him with such caring eyes, but she’s different somehow. Different feelings built between her ethereal eyes, enthralling him, wanting him – but also dissecting him.

“Edwin?” She calls. “Edwin?”

“I’m here my love…” Edwin smiles. “I’m here.”

She continues to call out even if he acknowledged her. He raised his fingers in the air, and touched. It didn’t feel like the soft, red hair she maintained, nor the soft skin she conditioned. It felt like dust. Air, nothing. Nothing… void, null… nothing.

“Candace?”

“Edwin?” She calls again. “Edwin?”

“Candace, my love, I’m right here.” 

“Edwin? I can’t see you! Edwin?!” 

“Candace, I’m right here, baby, I’m right here!”

“Edwin? Please, I’m lost. Edwin come back to me, please!”   
  
“Candace, I’m right here with you baby.”   


“Edwin!"  
  
She screeched. The world seemed to shake around him, penetrating through the veil of colors he enshrouded himself in, the hole Candace ripped when she died. Her screech resonated through his ears until reality flooded away, like an unsteady dam. Memories of her death repeated, rewind, and refreshed until all he could see was the gun he used on his reanimated wife. The murder weapon. Color drained, until darkness prevailed. Filling in the blank until all was black, until a small, dim light broke through, shining onto the gun. 

He picked it up, slowly. Lifting it into the air until it hit something solid. His head. He pulled the safety off, fingers pressing against the trigger. 

Silence.

~

“ _ H.I.T’s – high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effects ignites the oxygen between five-thousand degrees and six-thousand degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structure is desired. _ ”

“Harry?”  
  
“It sets the air on fire. No pain.” Jenner spoke up from the chair he was hunched over. “A quick, seamless death. All of you know what’s out there. A short brutal life and an agonizing death. Your friend knew the consequences and she paid it. It’s easier this way.”

“Easier for who?”

“For everyone! You know what this does. You’ve seen it. Is that what you really want for your family?” 

Rick pointed an accusing finger at Jenner’s face. “I don’t want this! No one wants this! We came to  _ you  _ for a chance, and you’re taking that chance away from us!” 

“You do want this. Last night you said, you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead.” Jenner, void of emotion, shot back. “And I’m not taking your chances here. I’m simply… letting it go.”

“You really said that? After all your big talk about hope and shit?” Shane accused. 

  
“I had to keep hope alive, didn’t I?”

“There is no hope. There never was.” Jenner shook his head emphatically. 

“There’s always hope. Maybe it won’t be you, maybe not here but somebody somewhere –” 

“This is our extinction event, Rick.” Jenner says. “And you, your family, and your group are not acquitted to that fact. This is what takes us down, don’t you see?”

 

~

Why do they want to leave? Don’t they see their chance in a blissful, quick escape from this harrowing world? A safe passage to somewhere without the need to worry, somewhere outside of this corrupted world. He’s saving them. Saving the children, the men and women, he’s saving everybody! Why do they want to leave?

“Candace?”

Candace shakes her head. Her red hair waving around in the hairs like tendrils of flame. It was beautiful, mesmerizing to watch, but he can’t help the feeling of resignation ebbing off of his usually approving wife.

“Candace? My love, I’m doing the right thing. You’ll see when I join you by your side.”

She continues to shake her head. She’s overthinking that’s it, just overthinking is all. Candace reigns supreme on their marriage, but she knows she cannot have total control on his actions despite her already tight leash. Yet, why can’t he get over this doubtful feeling ebbing through his veins? Was he making a mistake? 

“The children are crying…”

“My love?”

“The children are crying, the women are weeping, the men are leaving, and the life is weaving…” Candace whispers. 

“My love?”

“Let them go.”

“But –”  
  
“Let them go.”

“Okay…”

 

~

“Harry?” 

Harry blinked. “Yes?”

“C’mon, hurry up! We’re getting out of here!”  
  
“Oh, yes, yes…” His arms had no choice but to be dragged by Shane, but he did catch the downtrodden, blank stare from Jenner before the light from the outside blinded him momentarily. 

“Get down you two!”

_ BAM! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there are mistakes, lol. Plenty probably, but I'll get around fixing it. I hope you guys enjoyed! Keep your eyeballs out for the next one. Happy Halloween!


	5. Footprints

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. Uhm... hi. Lol. Here's a chapter. 
> 
> Word Count: 4306
> 
> Based on S2E01 "What Lies Ahead"

Consequences. Harry knew them perfectly.

His aunt was the first one to teach him about consequences. A sickly Harry would always ignore his chores in favor of resting on his dreary cot in the dusty cabinet under the stairs. His aunt Petunia would drag him by the feet, throw him weakly against the wall, and push a dust pan and a broom to get him sweeping the pantry. Or the sidewalk. Or the porch. Anywhere his aunt deemed “ _ too dirty _ .” 

His uncle was the second one to teach him about consequences. Whenever anyone said the ‘ _ m _ ’ word, namely Harry, they would get severely punished. In other words, his uncle would push him against the wall, throttle him a bit, and cuff him over the head. 

“ _ Magic doesn’t exist! _ ” Still rings in Harry’s head. 

When he discovered magic, Harry quickly realized how much magic could solve. But it didn’t solve all problems. It gave solutions, but those solutions came with consequences. 

Look at Voldemort – formerly known as Tom Riddle – a person worth sympathizing as Harry grew in age. The boy was vengeful, manipulative, and most of all insane. His magic grew in power and expertise but came at a cost with his slowly waning sanity. It was permanently severed when he created the horcruxes, ripping his soul in different portions to serve his taste for immortality; to caress it, cherish it, and live it. Harry sympathized with him because he too did not have a family to look on, but Tom’s past was simply too cruel. His father abandoned him on the steps of an orphanage, who reluctantly took the baby in until he grew up. 

The boy turned out to be a living nightmare simply because he was mistreated by the other residences of the same orphanage. He too had childhood bullies, mistreatment, and even the same Dumbledore-esque manipulation. He found a home in Hogwarts, relatively the same time Harry found a home in the castle – in his first year, when they first acknowledged the Wizarding World’s existence. However, it was short-lived when he painstakingly left for the orphanage thereafter the spring semester. 

Compared to Harry, Dumbledore always had a say in Riddle’s past, present, and future, and aided in the creation of Lord Voldemort. The former Boy-Who-Lived knew if he went on the same path, he would be an emulation of Voldemort. 

Overall, Harry knew what consequences could summon. He knew the effects. He just didn’t think he would ever live through it again with the same Potter-luck he had with him during his stay in the academy. 

Now… if only his head didn’t ache.

~

“I guess I’m losing hope that you can hear me. But there’s always that chance, isn’t there? That slim chance.” Rick’s voice quivered, his hands shaky. “We didn’t lose anyone, luckily. The CDC was a dead end. I met a man there, a scientist. He told me something. He told me–” He straightened himself up. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is we’re moving on. Atlanta’s done. We’re gonna try for Fort Benning. Ha. Harry looked at me funny when I recommended the place, Shane did as well. We’re gonna face a long hard journey, maybe even harder than I can imagine. But it can’t be harder than our journey’s been so far.

“I’m trying hard not to lose faith. I can’t. If I do, the others… my family, m-my wife, my son… Harry, Shane, there’s just a so many of us that will make it but losing them. Losing them…” He chokes, but continues speaking. “We’ve got to stick together, fight for each other, be willing to lay down our lives for each other if it comes to that.”

“Be careful out there, Morgan. I hope you and Duane are okay. Stay off the road. Keep moving. Keep your eyes open. I don’t know, j-just be safe. Maybe we’ll see you in Fort Benning someday.” Rick summoned a small smile. “Rick signing off.”

Click.

~ 

Shane hated his dad. Yeah they had their good moments when they used to be the average, countryside family with little to no income but the glue to stay as a family. Played ball in the park, took him out to his elementary school games with a younger Rick, and at the end of the day  _ stayed _ . Shane thought bitterly when his father comes up into a conversation or even implied because he, unfortunately, respected – even loved – the man. Until that one day, he left them alone. 

It was stealthy, Shane could give him that, crafty too; but overall, it was desperation Shane concluded. Desperation drove the man away from his family. He probably wanted a better, more luxurious life than he was living with ma and him. He probably wanted a bigger house, a dog, a whore to fuck every night, and all the whiskey he could get his grubby hands on. Maybe the last part was Shane’s angry thoughts but the argument held true, the man wanted a better life and he couldn’t see it from where he was with Shane and his former wife. So he left. 

Abandoned his family for a better life. It stung still. 

A pregnant pause filled the awkward silence when his old man’s sudden departure finally sunk in. Shane watched his mother’s face surpassed all five stages of grief before she turned on the same cheerful, upbeat smile she always had on her face and asked what he wanted for breakfast. He knew it was just a facade, a rather strong facade right until Shane caught her crying with his dad’s leftover shit nursed in her delicate hands. 

There wasn’t a day that he didn’t curse his father, mentally of course. Cursing the day he bore the ring his mother stubbornly kept on her birdlike fingers, cursing the day he planted his seed, and burnt down his side of the tree. 

That was until he and Rick finally got into the police academy in Georgia, and graduated with decent grades. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see the proud smile his mother would’ve bestowed because he lost her due to a terminal illness not even the doctors could properly diagnose. But he knew she would’ve been proud of him anyway. And finally, he felt like he could belong. 

The law kept him busy, bought him an apartment, bought him food and water, clothes and electricity, the basic necessities to get by in the world. It got him laid at night after a couple drinks at the bar, but overall, it gave him solace. Policing honed his ability to lead, and revelled when his betters praised him about his outstanding leadership. The badge was a symbol for who he is then and what he is now. 

He still held it in his hand when times get rough. The badge gave him comfort. It reassured him that he was a leader. That he’ll always be needed. 

When he sought out Lori after realizing he had just abandoned and probably lost his best friend, he looked for her for comfort; for reassurance that he was still wanted in this dying world. He will no longer be abandoned by anyone, close or not. That’s why he took her in bed, or the nearest dirt patch. They played with each other’s bodies in secret, hoping that Carl, his son in all but blood, did not realize his uncle Shane was ripping into his mother like a rabbit in heat. Though these moments only drew them closer, netting them up in a close bond. Closer and closer, they begun stringing into a tight-knit family. 

Then Rick had to come back and fuck it all up. 

For a brief and frightening moment Shane realized he hated the man, abhorred that he suddenly resurrected out of nowhere and came back to reclaim his family right under him. He watched them kiss, hug, and lead each other into  _ their  _ shared tent when it was once Lori and Shane’s shared tent. The former cop’s thoughts darkened further and further the more Lori pushed him away, pushed him away from  _ their family _ . The more she abandons him, the more darker his collected thoughts were where he almost find himself aiming his gun at Rick’s back.

That’s when Harry showed up with Rick’s bag full of guns. At first, he thought the little guy didn’t know shit, didn’t know how to do shit, until the brit confessed he was a doctor. For someone so small and boyish looking Shane hadn’t realized he could be, well, intelligent. But seeing him elegantly taking down walkers with his staff, dancing around them effortlessly, and at the same time healed those in need. Harry held compassion in the palm of his hand and a caring, readied smile every single day, not even a bad day could keep the guy from smiling. 

The guy also had patience. Shane knew he bothered Harry everyday, hounding him whenever Rick comes up with one of his ‘hopeful ideas.’ But Harry exceeded his own expectations. He just gives Shane a smile and hears him out, hears him voice his own opinion on the matter and then lets himself confess his own. They shared moments with one another without Rick, and not a mere moment did Shane think Harry’s boring. In fact, Shane thought being with Harry was comforting. Weirdly comforting. There was something about the shorter man that had Shane sharing his whole heart.

He’s not into the shitty chick-flick moments. It weirded Shane, however, when he spills his heart out on the man in a venerable fashion, and not his usual aggression. 

So that’s why he found himself here. Looking through the rubble of the now destroyed CDC in Atlanta, hastily picking brick by brick trying to find his friend. 

“Harry?” 

He heard a groan. A small, yet audible groan despite all the noise. 

“Harry? Harry!” Shane exclaimed, pinpointing where the ravenette was. “Harry, are you alright?” He helped the man up when the groan grew louder in response. “You okay there, Har?”

The man blinked a few times. “Yeah, yeah. I’m okay. Okay, no, scratch that. My head aches, my glasses broke, and my legs are all bruised up.” He looked at Shane then looked around them. “Yep, everything is a mighty blur. But I can see you, Rick? No you’re Shane given your accent… Right?”   


“No, Harry, I’m Daryl.” Shane mocked, grinning slightly. “Yes it’s Shane. Is your eyesight  _ that  _ bad?”

Harry nodded. “I’m halfway blind. Not quite there yet, though.” He remarks.

Shane rolled his eyes. “Ain’t that swell and good. How the hell did you make it so far without a group?”   


“Did you know that people with glasses aren’t necessarily equipped to survive in times like these?” Harry asks curiously, his eyes wavering slightly.

Shane snorted. “Yeah I can see that.” He looked around them. The dead started advancing forward in a slow tandem. “We better bounce soon. Walkers surrounding us.”

“Shane.”

“My truck is parked nearby, I’ll help you.”

“Shane.”

“What?!” Shane exclaimed hurriedly. But his heart started beating rather loudly when Harry gave him a beatific smile.

“Thank you.” Harry’s eyes seemed to brighten.

“Whatever.” Shane stammered, his face flustering. “I would’a done it for anybody, jus’ so you know.”

“I know.”

 

~

“Is your leg okay?” Shane asks worriedly when Harry moved closer to him. 

Harry gave him another smile. “Yes, yes, you worrywart.” Harry scoffed playfully. “Where’re we goin’?”   
  
Shane surveyed the road as he spoke. “We’re meeting up to look for some supplies, mainly water s’cause we’re fresh out. But our only option is to past through the interstate bypass, but Dale there looks like he’s fresh outta fuel.” He turned to Harry. “Stay here, I’ll see what’s up.”

“Okay.”

Shane exited the car, jumping from his high seat. “What’s up Dale?”

“Dead in the water.” Dale commented, sighing in resignation. “We need to find a radiator hose here. There’s a whole bunch of stuff we can find. I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start. Shane, is Harry alright?”

“Harry’s alright. Busted leg, but overall fine.” Shane says. “Gotta find some water or food, we’re going through it like a bunch of rats.”

“Thanks, Shane, nice to know we’re all rats in your eyes.” Andrea remarked. “God will you look at that. Now that right there is a graveyard folks. Can we even get through this blockade?” 

Dale sighed, again. “Don’t think we’re gonna get anywhere without fuel, nevermind making it to the bypass on the other side.” He looked over at the blond woman. “You think you and Amy can reel this in with those knots your dad taught you guys?”

“Yeah with rope and a thousand trucks.” Amy commented, Andrea nodded in agreement.

The growl from Merle’s motorcycle fell short. “The fuck, why’re we stopping?”   


“Look before you say somethin’ Merle.” Shane commented, grinning when Merle flipped him off. “We ain’t goin’ anywhere from here. Harry, you can come out now.”

“Finally, I was getting a bit claustrophobic in that tiny little space.” Harry remarked and stood by Shane’s side, ignoring Andrea’s intrigued look. The smirk that came after Harry dreaded when he caught the blonde’s eyes. “Merlin, would you look at that.”  


“An opportunity, I guess.” T-Dog smirked. “Come on y’all.”

“There is a bypass,” Glenn tried.   
  
“Not enough fuel, Glenn.” Dale said once again. “T-Dog you think you and Jim could siphon some fuel?”

“Yeah.” T-Dog started working around the RV.

Shane herded everyone. “Just look around, gather what you can! Anything from food or water would help. Harry, is your leg busted up?”

“No, I can still walk. If a bit limpy…” Harry winced slightly. “Aw don’t give me that look, I would like to help.” 

“I’d prefer if you just stayed in the truck.”

“And subject myself to potentially develop a phobia for small, enclosed spaces? Nope, not happening.” Harry grinned happily when Shane sighed in resignation, who was exasperated with the seemingly childish man. 

“Fine, fine. If anything happens - I swear to God, Har.”   


“Don’t worry, don’t worry.” Harry waved at Shane. “I dressed the wound and applied some herbs, everything is all fine and dandy.” It just made the man loopy, Shane mused. 

“Wait, wait, did you fix your glasses?” He swore to God Harry’s glasses were basically shattered to unfixable pieces.

Harry’s eyes widened, much to Shane’s confusion. He looked transfixed to the sky above Shane, but blinked back in reality when the officer cleared his throat. “U-uhm… yeah?”

“Well alright then,” Shane shrugs. Though he was a bit suspicious because he swore Harry broke those glasses, unless he mistaken that with something else. Shane shook his head from his thoughtless rambling and walked to an open trunk. 

“You found anything?” Harry walked over with curiosity. “Well, anything useful?”   


Shane shook his head. Just useless shit. A bunch of cloth which could be used as makeshift bandages, but Harry looked like he had lots of them in that bag of his. Though he did find a clear, opaque bottle, which he lifted up with his hand and uncapped it. Sniffing it, a sharp, almost tangy smell came from the bottle or the liquid the bottle held. 

“Ah, there are antiseptics in there.” Harry said having had caught the smell. “That’ll be handy cleaning wounds and such. May I have it, please?”

“Yeah.” He handed the bottle to the wizard. “You need anything specific, doc?”

Harry shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Okay.” 

“Shane?” Harry called.   


“Yes Har?”  
  
“Are you okay?” asked Harry as he zipped his backpack closed. “You know, with everything that’s happened recently?”

Shane glanced at the brit. Sometimes, Shane forgot Harry was the first person in his life who actually cared for his well being. “Yeah. I’m fine. Never figured scientists had a knack for insanity. But isn’t everybody at this point?”

“Touché.” Everyone is bound to go mad in the apocalypse, who wouldn’t? Harry smirked but it dimmed. “I should-”

“Guys look what I’ve found!” Harry and Shane turned to Glenn who was excitedly bouncing on his feet. “Water, and a shit ton of it! Jesus it’s like being baptized, man.” He laughs.

Harry smiled bemusedly at the excited teenager while Shane shook his head, continuing his scavenging in the adjacent car. The wizard’s emerald eyes scanned the area when he caught sight of Carol and her daughter. He waved at them as he called. “Carol! Sophia!”

“Harry.” She smiles meekly, while her mousy daughter looks up at Harry with bright cheeks. “How is your leg?”

“Oh I’m doing fine. How are you both? Faring well?” Harry asked. “Oh, Sophia. I have a bit of a surprise for you.” 

“What is it? What is it?” Her eyes alight with brimming excitement. “What is it, Harry?”

Harry hummed. “Hm.” He unzipped his backpack and revealed his, unfortunately, last chocolate bar he had saved before he came to the Americas. “Here you go.”

Carol’s smile seemed to have brightened when Sophia, almost, squealed in excitement. Harry was of course amused when he saw the little girl’s overzealous excitement, given the dark, dangerous situation they found themselves in. But it felt, well, it felt normal, and Harry does not know how he feels about it. 

“Didn’t know candy was all that. I would need to keep my eye on some then. Make sure to share it with Carl, you understand?” Harry quirked his head, pointing his index finger at her and wiggling it. “Chocolate is mayhaps my favorite candy, don’t let it go to waste missus Peletier.”

“Yes Harry!”

“What do we say when someone gives us something?” Carol asks sternly yet sweetly.

“Thank you, Harry!” She wrapped her little arms around Harry’s waist and tightened it. 

“No problem sweetheart.” Harry patted the mousy girl’s brown head. “Find anything useful?” 

“Not as useful as Glenn over there. Look at him, we’re not gonna get any water left with how much he’s using.” Carol chuckles. “But I found some clothes. Ed never let me wear these things.” She held a red top against her chest. 

“I think you will look absolutely beautiful in it.” said Harry, charmingly.

“Oh don’t sweet talk me, mister. I think I’m too old for you.” Carol says even though her cheeks brightened. 

Harry smirked dashingly, as he could. “I like cougars.” He wiggled his eyebrows when Carol pushed his shoulder lightly. 

But everything froze into place when he saw not one, but a herd of walkers behind the group’s current standing. Harry’s eyes widened. He called out to the group. “Walkers!” He turned towards the mother and daughter. “Carol get down! Sophia come here!” He ducked under one car with Sophia, who squealed and almost dropped the candy bar she had received from Harry. 

“Sophia?” Harry made sure she was okay. She wasn’t with her erratic breathing and wide dilated eyes. “I need you to remain calm, okay? I’m right here sweetheart. Nothing is going to happen to you alright?”

Sophia nodded hesitantly. 

“I’m going to put my hands over your ears now so that you won’t hear anything, nothing at all. Okay? I just need you to calm down, alright?” He placed his hands over her ears when she gave another small nod. “ _ Muffliato _ .” He felt the burning sensation magic often gave out encourse around his hands.  

And just like that, the little girl started mollifying until her breathing became stable. All the disgusting growls and snarls were put out of existence in favor of sweet, blissful silence. Harry continued watching around them carefully, surveying the herd’s every movement. Then it all stopped. Either the hoard stopped, or found a snack to chase. The silence that came after the storm was suspenseful.

Until a walker striked. 

“Shit.” Harry’s eyes widened.

It’s dead eyes fixated itself on Sophia and snarled menacingly, startling the little girl. She scurried from under the car and ran towards the forest. “Sophia!” Harry followed the frightened little girl while pushing some offending walkers trying to grab his shoulders. 

Just two long minutes after, Harry finally caught up with the little girl. He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked in her in the eyes when she began babbling, crying even with her eyes shut. Harry watched her slowly break down, crying silently, muttering something incomprehensible.   
  
“Sophia, it’s me.” Harry whispers. “It’s me, Harry.”

Sophia blinked her eyes open. “Harry?”

“At your service.” Harry offered her a lopsided grin. “I need you to tuck yourself somewhere enclosed, alright? I will be close by to protect you from the dead ones.” He lead her to a hollowed log. “Hide in here. I’ll be right here to protect you, alright?”

“You won’t leave me?”

“Of course not, sweetheart. I will be right here. Once I deal with them, we’re running and finding your mother immediately. You got it?” Harry said sofyl, bending down to place a small kiss against her head. “You’ll be alright. Just stay in there until I whistle, that’ll be the signal that the coast is clear.”

Harry glanced behind him, spotting the three offending walkers. “They’re here. Hide!” He turns towards the dead ones walking advancing forward, their snarls grating against Harry’s spine. “Well gentleman, and madam…” He acknowledged the one wearing a floral dress. “What brings you here today?” 

One made its move by grabbing at his shoulders, its jaws clenching tightly as it let out another grating growl. Harry dodged it by bending his body closer to the ground, sweeping the walker off its feet with a swipe of his staff.

“Now that was rude.”

He plunges his staff in the walker’s head, waiting for the body to stop flailing and twitching around before he lifted his staff and aimed it at the other two circling around him, waiting to strike. His breathing hitched slightly. He felt his body slowly drain when the adrenalin finally wore off and he felt the rather huge bruise on his left calf slowly tear itself apart, making the wizard wince in pain. But he wouldn’t stop, not without a fight.

Shaking his head, Harry smirked at the other two dead ones – no – walkers. “You wouldn’t want to end up like him, right? No. Alright then, shall we dance?” He pushed his glasses up. 

~

“My baby! Save my baby!” A hysterical Carol grabbed Rick by the collar and shook him around. Her face was filled with tears streaming down her pale cheeks. “S-she’s, she-she’s  been gone f-for a long time a-and I, I don’t…”

Shane’s jaw tensed. “Did someone go after Sophia? Where’s Harry?”

Carol’s face grew paler. “H-He was w-with her wh-when the walkers attacked.”

“That fucking idiot!” Shane seethed. Harry's leg was still bust up, the fuck was he thinking chasing after the damn kid in his condition?! 

“Did they both run into the forest, Carol?” Rick asked, worry evident in his crystal blue eyes. Carol nodded. “Merle, Daryl.”

The two rednecks nodded. Rick considered them the best trackers in the entire group even though they sometimes defy his expectations, and orders. “So the mouse ran away from the cat, hah. Didn’t expect Mr. Pansy to follow in her footsteps though.”

Shane shook his head exasperatedly. “Merle not now.” He sighs. “We just need to find Harry and Sophia now. Carol don’t worry, we’ll find your daughter  _ and  _ Harry alive.”

“Thank you, thank you…” The sobbing woman rested her head against a sympathetic Andrea, who wrapped her arms around the woman’s thin shoulders. Amy smiled at her sister, leading them both into the RV. 

Rick gave Shane his Mossberg 590. “Sweet baby come to me.” Shane gave Rick a crooked smirk, though he felt a bit contrite with Rick at the moment. Rick chuckled in amusement. “Look at that, an extended magazine tube, heat-shield, collapsible KNOXX SpecOps, and an NRS stock with a pistol grip. I am God and you are my angel, baby, and I made you right.”

Rick snorted. “Okay, while Shane is busy flirting with his gun,” this got a glare shot at him. “ Daryl, Merle, why don’t you guys lead on? Shane will go with Merle and I’ll go with Daryl, we’ll each go in a separate direction assuming their main route is straight through the woods. We’ll take point, finding them is our main objective. We have to move ‘cause the sun won’t be in our favor if we don’t set out now.”  

  
Merle shivered gaining a weird look from his brother. “Did you get the shivers, boy? I swear I got the shivers. Didn’t know officer friendly could  _ lead _ us rednecks like some German Shepherd.”

Shane glared at Merle now. “Seriously, Rick, I have to go with Merle?”

Merle wasn’t affronted in the slightest. In fact, he looked more amused than anything.“Got a problem with that Officer?” He mocks.

“I got a lot of problems with you, you glorified redneck.” Shane rolled his eyes after Merle shot him the bird. “Let’s go, we’re losing daylight.”

“Yes sir, officer sir.” Merle drawled. 

~

“I’ve noticed Officer.” Merle’s drawl grated on Shane’s nerves, as he closely followed behind the officer. “That you’ve been getting a bit comfortable with our resident doctor. Fancy a good dick, hm? Wouldn’t blame ya, the guy’s pretty pretty in the face. I wouldn’t mind tapping some of that, but I love me some good gaping pussy.” 

“I don’t think the ‘resident doctor’ appreciates your internal sexual desire for him.” Shane gritted his teeth when Merle let out a barking laughter. “Shut up, you want some uglies on us?”

Merle snorted humoressly. “Lighten up Officer, I’m just fuckin’ with you.” He joked. “I ain’t no faggot.”

“You have a nice way with words. So where the fuck we goin?” 

Before they entered the forest, Merle and Shane followed the imprints left on the grass near the bypass. The creek veered off into different directions but the two stubbornly followed the mud prints, leading to a damp creek. The mud tracks stopped near a hollowed log in front of a couple dead bodies. Shane felt trepidation fill his already heavy heart when he examined them, sighing in relief when none of them were either Harry, nor Sophia. 

“The little girl was in this log here. I don’t think she took down these three, here.” Merle observed. Shane looked at him in surprise. He didn’t know the redneck could be so analytical. “She must’ve torn her shirt here. Part of the fabric is stuck to the wood.” The redneck plucked the teal lined fabric. “Huh, I’ve seen the pansy fight these fuckers before, didn’t think he could take down all three at once without a gun. Respect.” 

Shane pressed the muzzle of his gun against the walkers’ backs, knocking them upwards so he could see the injuries done to the head.“They have the same injury. A blunt stab to the eye. Harry must’ve took these guys down and ran deeper into the woods with Sophia, carrying her. Must be the reason why there are only one set of tracks instead of two.” Shane carefully squatted down to survey the footprints stamped on the mud leading deeper into the creek. “Unless you think they veered off somewhere else?” 

Merle raised a grey brow. Eyeballing the tracks, he followed them carefully, swaying his gun in a full one-eighty making doubly sure they weren’t surrounded by uglies. He stopped halfway when he noticed the tracks stopped. 

“Well shit.”   
  
“What?”

“Right here.” He pointed at the tracks. “Either they bolted deeper in this direction, or they were stopped.”

“By what?” Shane asked.

“Do you think I fucking know what made  _ this  _ footprint?!” 

Shane looked down. He noticed two different distinct prints stamped on the mud.

“What the fuck?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse, really I don't. I just found myself enjoying my winter break with my family and friends, and not really thinking about writing this fic. On behest of myself, I am sorry guys <3\. I hope you guys had a marvelous holiday break and New Years! Now, to start the next chapter hm....
> 
> Any suggestions?


	6. Bulletproof

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> College can suck my ass tbh.
> 
> A/N: Updates aren't as frequently for which I express my utmost apologies for. I'm not really happy with this chapter, but I hope you guys enjoy! I will be writing out the next chapter this week and hopefully get it out before summer vacation (for me) starts! 
> 
> Remember: This is probably riddled with grammar and spelling mistakes. I have to reread my own writing because idk if I made a plot hole somewhere, and I will address it the next chapter! Again, I'm sorry for the infrequent updates. College, again, is beating my ass and it's rather hard.
> 
> Word Count: 6000+

When Rick opened his eyes in the rundown hospital, he didn’t expect the world to be so fucked up. Looking everywhere in a haze, he was ignorant to the fact there was blood almost everywhere – near the check-in desks, on the walls, pools of it painting the white floor, and whatever happened spared a few displayed guts spilled all over… everywhere. It wasn’t until he saw, with his own eyes, a nurse ravaged and mutilated did he finally believe how truly fucked the world became.

But when he met Harry, well, he forgot how the world truly was with its play things.

Those green eyes held so much compassion, it drew the cop in without a moment of consideration. Still, Rick couldn’t help but notice how too compassionate the guy could be. For one thing, the man kept smiling. No matter the situation they were in, the man would smile. Even as a stranger at the time on the highway, the man easily accompanied him through a hoard. It relieved the suffocating tension he felt building within every step he took, alone and wary in this new world. They’ve gotten along as they journeyed through the overrun city before they met up with other survivors. There wasn’t a lick of doubt Rick had when it came to Harry even with the little time he knew the man, compared to Shane anyway. It wouldn’t be shocking if Harry brought in strays into the group simply out of compassion, not considering what kind of influence the world has on people.

Overall, he trusted the doctor. 

Then he found his family and everything felt – it felt right! He had his son in his arms, hugging him until he finally breathed in a relieving sigh. God, how he felt perfectly healthy and complete when Carl cried against his chest. Although he wasn’t certainly thrilled when he saw his wife, his heart certainly grew fonder the longer she was absent. He remembered scooping her up and giving her a big, long kiss before breaking apart to kiss his son on his forehead. 

For the moment Rick finally felt the emptiness in his heart start to flood with love, the final piece of the puzzle completed him. The euphoria arrived in a series of waves and it felt good.

He had his son, his wife, his two friends and an entire group that –sometimes– worked together. Together they made it this far, dealing with a crazy ass scientist who tried to literally blow the group apart. Slowly but surely, his hope gradually changed throughout their journey away from Atlanta and it stayed that way.

But, like everything else, it all came to an end. And it came in the form of a bullet.

~

The two dubbed rednecks scoured the area for anything the two missing survivors left behind; when they reached a specific part of the forest, they heard something. It sounded almost melodic, peaceful, and benign despite their current state.

“Do you hear that?” Merle looked over at his brother, whose eyes were observing the air scanning the trees around them. “Who would be dumb enough to sing in a place like this?”

“Sounds like a bird.” Daryl deadpanned. “Ain’t who it’s what, Merle.”

“Kind of bird sings like that in these parts of Georgia, Mr. Bird Watcher?” Merle rolled his eyes when Daryl bumped his shoulder. “Exactly.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Daryl cursed, his voice sibilant.

It has been a day since they’ve seen any tracks from the little girl and their british doctor. The two officers and the other two rednecks searched high and low for them until the sunlight was no more, then they returned with no news nor whereabouts of the two missing survivors. Carol fretted around the site with a distracted air, fluttering about while tending to T-Dog with his open wound like an excited ghost. While Officer Friendly was being obnoxiously friendly when he commented about something about ‘bitten nails,’ Merle distracted himself wondering where the hell that voodoo doctor was hiding. 

Then when they deemed the current site wasn’t safe, Officer Friendly and the wannabe Soldier decided to head into the woods to find some form of shelter. But Officer Friendly and the Soldier both wanted to aid in the search of the missing survivors, eventually splitting up into separate teams. One held Officer Friendly, his kid, and the Soldier, while the other group contained the two rednecks who scoured the area with keen eyes. The others scourged through the forest aimlessly, the old man and T-Dog stayed behind. 

That’s when they heard the haunting melody fill the pensive atmosphere. It was a contrast, a beautiful contrast Merle wagered. Although he wasn’t into this prissy sorta music, Merle kind of respected it in a way. Somehow, it reminded Merle of their mother before she sold her life to drugs and alcohol. Not like Merle was any different in the long run. Nevertheless, he didn’t stop even with two uglies tailing behind them.

Turning back, Merle had his trademark lopsided smirk on his face and his gun at the ready. He swiped his legs to incapacitate the two, sweeping their legs until they hit the floor with a small thud. Merle raised his foot and connected it with the jaws of one walker, while the younger brother simply shot the arrow straight through the ugly’s skull. He also wiped his messy boots, scraping the decay from his boots .Breathing in a sigh, Merle resumed his previous carefree posture and continued searching the grounds for any other signs of that mysterious creature tracks, or anything from the day before. 

The trail ran dry though, so Merle wasn’t very optimistic. Not like Merle had any to spare.

So instead, Merle and his brother followed the singing captured and spread out by the trees. Merle’s calculating eyes scanned the area, noting three more uglies popping their mangled heads from the depths of the creek. Cursing inwardly when he realized they were likely to be surrounded when another two entered the clearing, Merle pointed near the exit and noted when Daryl gave a short nod. They were likely attracted to the singing given how the five walkers ignored them, walking past them. With deft hands, Merle carefully sheathed his pistol and pointed to the backs of the walkers.

“We followin’ the singin’?” Daryl hissed. 

Merle nodded. “Might get a clue where the two bastards are. We pop these fuckers after-” 

Sneering, Merle cursed himself for opening his mouth because just their luck! They were interrupted by a loud gunshot coming from the east. The volume carried through the forest, seemingly louder than the melody. The two hunters weren’t so lucky when the uglies reared their heads, their ugly eyes enraptured with them. Merle growled and ran towards the side to flank them, attracting two of them. While Merle was unsuccessfully flanking the mini hoard, Daryl stayed behind with three enraptured uglies.

Usually, Daryl takes them out between the foliage, quietly if possible. However, he never confronted one up close unless he has to with his hunting knife. His aim was wonky, his hands shaking in adrenaline. Cursing inwardly, Daryl raised his crossbow with a notched bolt, releasing it, which only penetrated an uglies shoulder. The younger redneck growled in retaliation when one grabbed at him. He dodged an ugly fucker’s pounce, eyes locked on with the mutilated shell. But he felt a calloused, vice grip gripping his shoulder. Turning around, he butted the arm with the end of the crossbow, which swatted the arm away from him and successfully severing it from the mangled body.

His dodging, however, was too slow for the other ugly. “Shit!” The younger redneck defended against the attack by holding it back with the front of his crossbow. Daryl shifted his weight more towards his legs, slowly letting the walker push against him closer; close enough for a bolt to travel right through the malleable head with ease upwards. “Fucking bastard…”

His older brother severed the remaining uglies heads, a coined cocky smirk plastered on his face. “You okay there brother? Almost became dinner? C’mon~ we can take these little shits. There are only- Well, fuck me!” The redneck sneered when more uglies popped outta nowhere. “These cunts breed like fucking rabbits, where the hell they all comin’ from?!” 

The younger brother sent his older brother a scathing glare and pointed at the little gape in the foliage on the left side of him. “Fuck you think Merle?” Daryl asks after penetrating another skull with his hunter’s knife. “Leave these sons of bitches! We just follow that song!” 

“Fucking bitch asses!” Merle cursed when one almost took a chunk out of him, before it was promptly stabbed and smashed into mush. “Let’s go!” He punched one more in the face to incapacitate it, running from the clearing in one clean dash. 

Daryl followed suit, sheathing his crossbow while running as fast as he can to keep up with his brother. 

They ran for what felt like hours, they felt their adrenaline kicking in as their feet felt like feathers gliding through the air. Daryl took a quick glance behind them and placed his hand on the nearest branch, pulling his weight to stop him from running.

“They’re… g-gone, the fuckers are gone!” Daryl breathily called out, his head resting against the trunk of the tree he grabbed. Fuck, that wasn’t good for his heart. “Fuck.”

“That’s my cardio for the day. For the week.” Merle corrected himself with his hands on his knees, panting from exhaustion. He glances at his brother.. “The things we do for that british bastard. Fuck, I needa seat.” 

Daryl smirked. “Getting too old, Merle?” 

The older Dixon cuffed the younger one only for the smirk on the latter’s face to widen. “Shut the fuck up.” Merle grumbled, sitting on the boulder in the middle of the clearing. “See anythin ‘round us?”

Daryl nodded. “Don’t hear mud slapping the ground, so I guess not.” He shrugs. “Couple uglies but too far to notice us.” 

“You’re getting to be a bit of a wise ass, huh?” Merle rolled his eyes. “We better get leaving then. You think we’re close?’

After a few moments of silence and his question left unanswered, which was weird since Daryl always had something to say, Merle turned. Turning towards his brother, Merle opened his mouth to say something scathing. He went silent when he saw Daryl’s countenance; it was one of both surprise and shock.

Growing up in his father’s care, Merle - and perhaps Daryl - never really believed in shitty miracles or fuckin hope because they never really existed. Now, being a Dixon, nothing really shocks you nowadays. The pair seen everything from their darkest to their lightest moments before shit hit the fan, then Merle found out voodoo exists in the world. So nothing came to a surprise. Until now.

“What the fuck is that?”

~

Although Rick and Shane agreed they were both going to search for their british friend in the meantime, they had Carl with them which hindered their former goal. Now, Rick and Shane hunkered down after an hour of peering into bushes and pushing away the surrounding foliage in hopes of at least finding one of the two missing survivors. 

Of course Carl wanted to help but the two officers were quick to deny Carl’s request, even if it did bring a downtrodden frown on the child’s face. Rick wanted to say something to assure Carl, but Shane quickly placed his hand on his shoulder and shook his head. It was better if Carl learned, the officer said with a hint of finality to it; Rick sighed at that but nodded anyway. It wasn’t safe, Rick tried to assure himself, he didn’t want anything to happen to his son because of his own misguidance.

Shane and Rick took point further into the creek where they heard singing. Carl was the one to point it out.

“Is that singing?” Carl asked, his head turning in every direction. “Who’s singing?”

“Doesn’t sound like a human.” Shane’s eyes were just as confused as Rick’s own. “But sure as hell loud enough to attract walkers.” 

Rick points at the four walkers limping towards the other exit of the clearing. “Should we investigate?”

“I’m sure that song might accumulate more of it, man. I wouldn’t chance it.” Shane grumbled. He turned his back for a second only for Carl to walk in front of him following something. “Carl keep behind us!”

“But look!” The child points at something in the next clearing. 

Unbeknown to the walkers limping aimlessly towards the source of the loud noise, a doe languidly eating at the grass patch near the shrubbery. Shane aimed his gun at the buck, thinking about the venison they were going to eat only for Rick to place his hand on the muzzle. Rick shot him a pointed glare and gave a onceover towards Carl, who was smiling and slowly advanced towards the animal. 

Shane’s eyes softened while Rick smiled. The buck raised her head tall, staring back at Carl who was continuing his slow approach. The two doesn’t move nor do anything but stare, smiling at the pure innocence this sequence exudes. 

But the moment ended when blood painted the grass. Suddenly, a gunshot rang through the valley but the sound was almost deafening to the two adults who watched the scene unfurl. The buck collapsed on the ground lifelessly, and so did Carl’s. His small body slammed the ground with a resounding thump while the two adults just watched, watched the innocence become dust.

Rick felt his heart almost stop, constricting tightly in knots, his eyes also widened in pure shock and agony. His legs finally regained its movement as he strides towards his son’s body, praying to God almighty that his son was still alive. He quickly pressed his two fingers against his boy’s neck, checking for a pulse for anything! For anything that will tell Rick that his son was still alive. 

There! Right there, a small little pulse. His little boy was still holding on! Rick felt like crying in joy, rejoicing for small miracles.

Shane was just the opposite. To put it frankly, he was fucking pissed and his hawkeyes scanned the area with a piercing, angry glare. Shane’s eyes grew deadly in a few short minutes when a port man materialized from the shadows, looking shocked at what he had caused. The port fellow stammered an apology but Shane had none of it, instead he used his fists as a response. 

“What the fuck?!” Shane exclaimed. How fucking dare this guy-

“I-I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to!” The man says, his arms waving in the air as a sign of peace. “I-I didn’t know that he was there, I swear! I would’ve not shot if I knew the child was there, I swear.”

Shane cringed when he watched the fat ass’s face wobble as he shook his head. He grabbed and raised the guy’s collar to his face, a feral glare looking into horrified pupils. “Got some fucking nerve shooting without checking, fuckin stupid! You could’ve seen it, the buck isn’t big enough to block the boy’s body!”

“I-I didn’t know, I swear!”

The man kept sputtering an apology right from his ass, but Rick was having none of it right now, all his attention was focused solely on his son. Shane loosened his grip on the man’s collar, pushing him to the ground and took a great satisfaction at the guy’s obvious discomfort with the ex-cop.

Then a light bulb seemed to have blink to life. “T-There’s a-a farm! I’ll take you both there!”

Rick’s response came quick as a bullet, his back twisting and a face with agonizing terror written in those blue orbs. “Can they help?” He was surprised he found his voice. “Cause if they can’t fucking help I swear to all that is holy you’ll fucking regret this.” 

The officer knew he wasn’t being reasonable but he really didn’t find a single fuck to give, his child lying almost lifelessly in his arms! 

The man’s head wobbled as he nodded. “Yes, yes, come on, I’ll show you - I mean, both of you to where they are!” Rick gave a final pull before pushing back. 

 

Shane wasn’t easy to cajole, his eyes still had that horrifying glare when it glazed over the port man. “How the fuck can we trust the guy who just shoots a kid? The hell do you think we are, stupid?”

The man seemingly found his bravery when his chest puffed up. “Well we ain’t going anywhere when the dead is surrounding us, then we’ll all be dead! You either go with me or your boy dies.”

 

Shane growled. “Do you honestly think you’re in a place to get all cocky, smartass?” The port man gulped. Shane placed the muzzle of his shotgun against the man’s chest, hands hovering the trigger. The fat man’s beady eyes widened at the fact he was held at gunpoint.

The man began to stutter nervously, fingers tapping against one another in a rapid beat. “N-No, b-but, they’ll help. I know they’ll help! His name is Hershel Greene and he-he has-has, uh… ah! Medical experience, yes medical experience. He’ll help!” 

Rick closed his eyes, his hands busy brushing the fringe away from Carl’s closed eyes. All the anger left him after witnessing his son’s pallor begin paling. “We don’t have fucking time for this! Shane lets go, lead the way…”

“Otis, the name’s Otis.”

“You sure about this Rick-”

“I’m sure, Shane.” Rick lifted Carl from the ground. “Lead the way.”

“We’ll have to hurry then,” Otis says, his stutter diminished. “The farm is just north from here, you’ll see it when you reach a golden meadow! So just run straight and you’ll no doubt see it! Go, go!”

Rick looked at his best friend. Shane was too busy glaring at Otis to notice. “Just go, Rick. I’ll be right behind you.” He seethes.

“You sure?”

“Just fucking go!” Shane snapped, his eyes ablaze. “You don’t have time to lollygag you idiot, your boy’s life is depending on it!” It felt bitter but Shane was already shaken up to realize. 

The Sheriff's deputy felt shaken and tightened his hold against his son’s body. Rick felt his throat constrict and exited the clearing in a clean bolt. 

“So,” Shane smirked cruelly. “Where were we?”

Otis didn’t have time to respond when Shane punched the man’s face, caving it in slightly and leaving a black eye. 

“That’s for shooting Carl, fucking bastard.” Shane seethes waving his hand slightly, batting away the slight sting his hand sported. His cocky smirk widened his face while he cracked his knuckles. The man looked pitiful on the ground, but he could hear the walkers limping towards the clearing and he ain’t waiting to become dinner. Whether the man was, well Shane didn’t honestly give a shit. “Well? What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

~

“Kind bird is that, Daryl?”

The bird looked bigger than a fucking eagle! It had red feathers and a face reminding him of those chickens he saw once at a farm he slept in. Those were some good ass chicken though but this bird ain’t no stupid chicken. It looked like it was looking down on the Dixons with its coal black eyes. The bird’s crown almost looked like fire with the combination of red, orange, and other warm colors. Those coal eyes though, they looked like it could peer at his soul. Merle didn’t like that. Kinda creeped Merle out though and hardly anything gives him the hibbie jibbies. 

“I don’t fucking know, dumbass.” Daryl curses. “Fuck you think of me? I ain’t into birds; that’s your area, Merle.” 

The bird looked like it raised its nonexistent brow and laughed melodically in amusement. It started beating its wings revealing something in its talons, clasped tightly on the branch.

Merle noticed the thing sticking from the chicken’s talons. “The fuck’s it got in its claws?” 

Daryl’s eyes narrowed to fixate itself on the object the bird currently held in its talons. The most he could observe were the colors pink and brown, everything else meshed together with the shadows of the trees. “I don’t know.”

The bird ignored them and continued singing. Despite the soothing tune, Merle didn’t really feel like becoming ugly chow because a dumbass bird wouldn’t stop laughing at them. “Will you not do that?!” Merle hisses. “You’re attractin’ uglies, stupid!”

Merle didn’t know how he felt when the bird seemingly understood what he said. It squawked indignantly in retaliation with two slight fluttering red wings. Raising its beak in the air, the phoenix once again looked down on the two. It fluttered its wings once again, taking off into the air with an elegant twirl. The next part had Merle’s eyes burning when the bird shrouded itself in flames, dive bombing to the floor until it was merely hovering over them with beating wings.

The powerful beats of the wind brushed against the hunters’ tough skin, sending chills down their spines when the bird belted a final song until it took off into the trees. The two hunters didn’t know why but they felt something compulsive pulling them like a leash, their legs involuntarily moved without their honest to God consent. Soon enough the hunters’ were bolting down the river abbey following the belted song. They found themselves dodging through the foliage, loose branches, and the uglies following the singing chicken. Merle, for a second, cowed expression turned to one of shock when he realized the chicken was on fucking fire! 

It elegantly twirled through the trees, dodging branches with one big wing beat and contorting its body to increase its acceleration; there were flames trailing behind the bird’s tail feather in one long stream. Daryl’s keen, shocked eyes could hardly keep up until he noticed the bird slowing down and the fire extinguishing. 

“Slow down!” Daryl called out. “Slow down!”

“What, what?!” Merle screamed at his brother, wondering what the fuck the idiot was talking about. That is, until he looked in front of him. “Oh-oh shit!” He forked his iron-toed boots under a loose patch of dirt and clamped his heel to the ground to decelerate. The face that was once full of shock contorted to a scoff. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier you fucking idiot?! I almost got a face full of tree!” He shot a scathing glare at the amused Daryl, who was still looking at the fried chicken with something akin to wonder.

“Didn’t notice,” Merle’s keen ears picked up which the man scoffed at, bullshit. “Did you see that while we were runnin’? Fucking bird was on fire.” 

Merle scoffed again. Of course he did. “It probably was just its colors. You’re just seein’ things.”

“You didn’t notice the tree you’re about to kiss, so you shouldn’t talk... shit.” Daryl smirked at Merle’s venomous snarl. “Make sure to buy it dinner before barking it up, yeah?” 

“Shut the fuck up!” 

~

“Do you hear that?” Andrea asked her tailing sister, her expression one of curiosity. “Sounds nice.”

“Eh.” Glenn responded despondently, fingers wringing one another in one forked motion. “Might attract more geeks though…”

Jim snorted. “You did that once so you shouldn’t talk, Glenn. Remember when you guys got back from that department store? Probably attracted a whole hoard from all that mess.” 

Glenn involuntarily pouted. “Hey! I didn’t know how to shut it off! I drove a moped before all this dead walking business started. And wait… I didn’t know you knew my name.” He looks at the taller man questioningly.

Jim, the ever expressive man, shrugged with a lopsided grin spreading his cheeks. “Pick up a few things when you’re just a silent wackjob.”

“Ah.” Glenn didn’t know how to respond to that. Sure, he found Jim rather crazy when they were back in the quarry, but Harry had assured everyone he was suffering through mild dehydration; sometimes, Glenn didn’t know if it was just the dehydration talking. Jim was a good guy, though, and since the incident Jim hasn’t been digging anymore graves. That Glenn was grateful for because before it got him having a mild panic attack.

The group continued to grow silent as they traversed past a few more trees, for which Lori commented about walking in a circle. Instantly, Glenn noticed the singing grew distant, disappearing until the noise of water trickling down a steep river and the rustling of the trees above the group came back. The silence grew on Glenn. Silence wasn’t really a good thing for the asian purely because he hated thinking, he acted on instinct; and when he thinks, he contemplates on things most drastic.

One was about Harry, the doctor that always smiled. He swore the man wasn’t from this world because who could stay smiling? Then it was the fact he had both the leaders of this rag-tag group around a leash, yet he still doesn’t abuse that specific power; unlike Lori, of course, which Glenn noticed seemed distant with even Carl around her to keep her comfort. He noticed Rick always spent time with Harry before the incident and he once saw Shane enter Harry’s room back at the CDC. He thought it was worrisome because he swore he saw Shane walk in with a bottle in his hand, but there wasn’t screaming or… corpses, so he wasn’t very worried. 

Yet Glenn wondered why Harry was so compassionate. The man clearly knew how to survive and was quite resourceful by leaving them herbs, which was an obvious foresight on T-Dog’s behalf. The poor man cut his arm open and, fortunately, Harry left quite a clear description on what to use for what type of injury. Of course there was that vial of liquid that Harry kept in Shane’s car, which Shane found when he was looking for something. The thing worked out like a damn freakin’ miracle! T-Dog’s arm looked good as new, not even a scar to show for it! It went poof, gone, zilch, as if a big ass cut wasn’t there moments prior. 

Again though, it didn’t quench Glenn’s curiosity. Glenn wanted to know what made Harry, Harry. Although he wasn’t the smartest individual, like Harry himself, nor did he ever try getting into college, Glenn was always one to seek an answer even without important clues. He wanted to know what made Harry nice and stayed that way even when the world turned upside down. 

Glenn, before joining the group, saw things after the world became a shithole. He saw people shooting each other for no reason at all, no bite, no evidence that their mother, their father, their friend was going to become a geek. He saw people kill each other for supplies, raiding different bases in desperation while also attracting all the geeks from across the nation with their noise. Even before the catastrophe, Glenn saw all of Georgia, from Macon to Atlanta, go into pure anarchy because of one thing: Fear. Yet here this man, a british man, smiling and accepting help when needed while enticing the entire group with his charm; he was even willing to deal with the brunt of Shane’s neverending anger! And, well, Merle’s racism, but that was another thing entirely. 

But despite Glenn’s battering curiosity, he respected the man very much; he respected him even more when he helped him out with his first, and only, hangover. 

Then there was Sophia. There wasn’t much to say about the sheltered child, but Glenn could see how much Carol has been affected by the aftermath the hoard left behind. She fluttered around the camp in hopes of keeping her mind away from her child – Harry was probably in the mix, but Glenn doubted it. Yes, Glenn pitied her and sympathised being worried about her child as he was worried about his parents as well; even though there was doubt, he was hopeful they made it out and survived in capable hands. Realistically, however, it has been a day compared to –well, Glenn didn’t know the time and no one was keeping up with a calendar anymore – filled with worry. 

The asian pizza delivery boy heard a gunshot, well he wasn’t probably the only one that heard it but it was pretty loud and clear. It was one gunshot and Lori pointed it out while frantically looking around as if she would find the answer in an ironically empty forest. He didn’t know how to interpret the noise they’ve heard nor could he relate it to the singing Andrea heard prior, but Glenn remained wary and a bit fearfully. What if that gunshot came from where Harry and Sophia was? Glenn shook his head, he shouldn’t think that way. It was disrespectful, and Harry looked capable. 

Andrea found Glenn looking around contemplatively for a moment then shook his head. “What’s wrong, Glenn?” She bumped him against the shoulder with her own, smirking when the asian man spluttered indignantly.

Composing himself, Glenn glared at the blond. “Just worried.” 

“Worried?” Andrea knitted her eyebrows together which allowed Glenn to answer in truth. Blurting out, almost.

“Harry and Sophia. I mean, they’re still lost in this forest! And then we heard that gunshot yards away from here. What if it was them? What if someone shot them?” Glenn was freaking out a little, he hated thinking so much it became a bit overwhelming. The blond woman, bless her soul, tried to help by mouthing different words but nothing came out but soft, muttered reassurances that didn’t placate Glenn’s mind. Instead, Andrea placed a comforting hand on his shoulder while Amy looked on in worry. Thinking to herself, how long did the man keep this to himself? “Sorry, sorry. I’m just worried, y’know?”

“We’re all worried… well, except Lori, but we’re all worried for Harry and Sophia.” Amusedly, Amy side eyed the wayward mother at the front of the group. Then Amy rested her head against Glenn’s tense shoulders. “Although I haven’t known the man since he showed up back at the quarry, I can already tell he will take care of Sophia or anybody immediately. He wouldn’t leave her out to die, nor be stupid with a little life on his hand. So have faith, Glenn. We’ll find them, I swear it; and if not, well, they’ll find us.” 

“How do you know that?” Glenn asked, rubbing the back of his head with bright flustered cheeks. A girl never put their head willingly on his shoulder and he didn’t know how he felt about it. “H-how do you know that, Amy?’

“I just know.” Amy gave Glenn a positive smirk before walking off where she attached herself to her sister. 

It was then that Jim joined in on Glenn’s now one-sided conversation. “Remember the time I made those holes in the ground, thinking we’re gonna have a lot dead when it turned out to be a few?”

Glenn unconsciously nodded his head not really getting the older man’s point.

“And the doc said I was having one of them heat strokes because the sun was microwaving my head, you know what he immediately did?”

“Helped you?”

“Exactly. Doc tended to me without those discriminations,” Jim sighed. “Those weren’t the hottest moments of my life, and I ain’t proud of it; I’m just happy I had someone by my side that didn’t bring it up every second. The man looks loyal and brave when needed. He saved me and Amy from that stupid hoard once and he also saved Sophia from death. What I’m tryin’ to get at is Harry and Sophia would be alright, Sophia especially to have such capable hands protectin’ her.” 

Despite Jim’s assurances, Glenn winced. He noticed Dale kept going on and on about Jim’s obvious discord with reality, but Harry was quick to reassure that he was unnecessarily bringing something up that is long over. Luckily there were no arguments between the old man and the british doctor because the old man quickly sputtered an apology, but if Dale was any other person there would’ve probably been an argument. 

That was another thing about Harry. He supported pacifism, diplomacy and remained docile unless attacked. 

In hindsight Glenn believes that is how he won over both the officers that were unanimously voted as the leaders, Harry was a mediator between the two; he settled their arguments with calming words, like the one he witnessed back at the quarry when Shane strided in and accused Harry in taking Rick’s side then dragged him in the forest. 

Shaking his head from perverted thoughts, Glenn sucked in his lips and looked at Jim. “I don’t think you’re crazy. You’re pretty good with that shovel though.” Glenn glanced at the rusted shovel Jim enjoyed carrying for some reason. “Why do you have a shovel?”

“Oh this?” Jim raised his shovel for Glenn to see more clearly while nodding incessantly. The older man chuckled in response. “A memento. Needed something to mark my lasting survival, and well it reminded me of my mistakes too.”

Glenn didn’t want to pry. The way Jim sorta withdrew himself from the conversation with an air of finality kinda gave the asian teen the hint, to back away slowly. Instead, the younger man nodded his head and went back to walking in formation, eyes surveying the area in hopes the trail would be close to empty. 

Again, another tense silence surrounded the group and it inevitably suffocated Glenn. His thoughts, although used rarely, provided some sort of comfort within the silence; but it was an obvious curse because it makes him more of a worrywart. Then his ears picked up an odd sound. A sound that definitely reminded Glenn of horses, especially since most of his orders came from stereotypical cowboys and ranchers. 

While Glenn busied himself thinking he failed to realize that the galloping became increasingly louder by the second. Soon enough he was staring up at a majestic figure upon a steed came striding in.

~

Rick feared the worst, he always did. He started when the world turned to shit, when Jacqui and whole heaps of others died the night of the attack, when a crazy scientist went off his rocker, and now when Carl was practically dying in his arms Rick couldn’t help but feel helpless in this situation. His lungs didn’t matter, his fatigue didn’t matter, nothing mattered but his son who was turning much paler than before. 

His legs couldn’t give up, not now, not ever. “Ah!” He breathed his a big inhale and continued his marathon towards wherever the man Otis was pointing to. Rick pulled his son, his innocent son closer to his chest and made sure his grip wasn’t too tight to result in potential bruises. “You’ll be okay, you’ll be okay.” He whispered, which soon became his mantra for the day. 

In the back, Shane was pulling along an exhausted Otis by the collar. 

“How far?! How far?!” He practically screamed through his fatigue.

“Another hal-half mile, that way! F-find Hershel! Ask for He-Hershel!” Otis fell to the floor, panting in desperate breaths while Shane stood near him, pulling him off the ground with a growl.

In the distance he saw a house. It was an average country house, two stories, a balcony, and a big field fit for animal grazing and crop growing. His vision began to tunnel but he saw someone in pink and an older man standing on the balcony looking warily at the cop carrying his son. He panted heavily in hopes of making it without his legs buckling under him, but his legs trembled with sporadic shakes. 

“Was he bit?” He heard from the older man standing in the middle of the entire family who soon came out from their hiding. 

Rick swallowed a scathing remark and instead exclaimed, “Shot! By your man.”

“Otis?” The older blond woman asked, shocked at the accusation the man sputtered 

The cop ignored her in favor of the older man he assumed was Hershel. “He said find Hershel. Is that you?”  
Hershel gave a minute nod. “Help me! Help my boy!” Rick pleaded, his voice becoming hoarse as he watched the older man contemplate with himself – a moment of hesitation, Rick noticed.

The older man waved for him to head inside. “Get him inside, get him inside!”

As soon as he was inside, Rick watched the older man fold his collared sleeves until his forearms were revealed. “Patricia, I need my full kit. Maggie, painkillers, coagulates – hell, grab everything!” The man walked towards the bedroom on the right, flipping the thick covers off the bed. “Clean towels, sheets, alcohol. In here! Patricia!”

“Yeah?”

“Get that other guy from the back!” 

“Okay!” 

“Pillowcase,” Hershel says but Rick ignored him.

Rick gently placed his son on the bed. “Is he alive?” His eyes desperately sought out Hershel’s own, worrying for the worst. 

“Pillowcase, quick!”

The cop grabbed the nearest pillow and stripped the pillowcase from it, doing it with his eyes solely on Hershel. “Is he alive?”

Hershel seemingly ignored him. “Fold it. Make a pad.” He says hastily, lifting his son’s shirt to reveal the wound his son endured. “Put pressure on the wound.” He aided Rick for a bit, putting pressure to make sure the blood stops flowing from the wound. The cop added more pressure to the wound, allowing Hershel to quickly grab his stethoscope and pressed it against the boy’s chest.

“I’ve got a heartbeat. It’s faint.” Hershel spared a glanced at the cop who looked down in relief, yet still worried for the worst to come. “Patricia, did you get him?” 

As if summoned, the older woman nodded her head and gestured for someone to come in the room. “In here, sweetheart.” She waved her hand in gesticulation. 

“What’s happened?” Rick’s ears perked up. He recognized that accent. “Are you sure that I could-”

Rick’s eyes widened. “Harry?”

Harry, the green eyed, usually smiling younger man, lived and breathed in front of him and Rick felt like picking him up and flaying him around. Right now though, it wasn’t the time nor day to fiddle with his thoughts. Instead, Rick strided towards the other end of the room and wrapped his arms around the man that went missing.

“Rick? Rick, hey, wh-what happened? Why is Carl…”

“He was shot,” Rick mewled against Harry’s shoulder. “He was shot…”

“By-by who?”

“Wh-where’s Sophia? Is Sophia okay?” Rick felt Harry nod against his chest, and the younger man didn’t seem to mind the sudden change in subject but Harry still tippy-toed to get a better view in the back of him. 

“She’s doing just fine feeding the chickens and asking about her mother, but what I’m more worried about is your son. And, of course, you, are you okay?” 

Rick nodded even though he doubted it. He looked like shit. He still wore his police uniform, because it was the cleanest clothing he owned, which were drenched in Carl’s blood. His legs were still trembling from the exhausting run while also carrying his son in his arms, constantly checking he wasn’t losing his grip on Carl’s flaying body. He also just found out his friend was alive and well! So no, he wasn't okay. Far from it, quite frankly, given what he’s been through.

“Can you help him?” Hershel asked from the back of Rick. 

Harry looked down hesitantly something Rick noticed when the man looked over his shoulder. Harry contemplatively surveyed the room, not once laying his eyes on Rick’s own. 

“Harry?”

The raven-haired doctor’s eyes finally landed on Rick. Despite the situation, Rick kind of felt uncomfortable with how the doctor’s eyes bore through his very soul as if searching for an obvious clue. 

“I don’t know if I could do much, but I’ll try.” Harry says, his eyes still on Rick. “I’ll try and save your son.”

“Thank you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and Comments would do just fine. Idc really, but your ongoing support really butters my muffin~ 
> 
> Thank you guys again for reading and I'll hopefully post the next chapter soon enough! 
> 
> If you guys have any suggestions or any criticism don't be afraid and just post it. I can take it lol.


	7. Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a chapter where I felt is needed. Decisions were changed, characters are still alive, and there's a bunch more fluff in this chapter as well! My story isn't gonna be too angsty there will be those moments though in the long run, but for now enjoy the fluff! Oh and I'm on summer vacation back on my island, and it is HOT! 
> 
> I'm just thanking whatever is out there that kept my motivation in continuing college. Jesus. 
> 
> And I'm really considering the Shane/Harry/Rick thing... lol idk. What do you guys think?
> 
> Word count: 7500+ (not counting the A/N :D)

It was scary.

Harrowing, actually. Harry concluded that whomever reanimated the dead sorely deserved the most painful death, concerning the mere decimation of both the Muggle and the Wizarding populations that died in their favor. Once tall buildings soon came down to rubble, and the most proudest of people were now cradled by Death’s graceful touch; only to be wrenched from their slumber and awakened by hunger. Their bodies mutilated, decomposing to the point where their faces are unrecognizable and could only be deciphered as a monster.

People, people who were once alive are now considered monsters. 

Harry too considered these things monsters. He defined monsters as such when describing a serial killer, one who has no remorse or any regret killing or hurting anything whether it be an animal or a person; not showing any emotion, apathy is what yields a monster. Those monsters would stop at nothing to make anything else that moves and breathes their next meal. Even if it was a child. 

Fortunately, Harry and Sophia survived the ordeal scathed, yet living and breathing the air in rapid pants. 

Running through the forest with Sophia has put much stress on Harry’s leg, making him take breaks periodically in order to redress his wounded leg with only so little supplies in his small pack. Sophia would look at him in worry and tilt her head down awashed in her own guilt; it was crass enough for Harry to think how he was fortunate to not become similar to Sophia growing up. However, it did not stop Harry from reassuring her that there is no need to worry over anything concerning him when thinking about her own safety. 

First priority was the ones on the backline, and that usually includes children.

For some apparent reason Harry saw plains on the edge of the creek, and though the monsters gave up chasing after them, the wizard cautiously approached the border. Traipsing around the border with his feet closer to the plain, Harry surveyed the area with his limited vision. He could make out the different colors in the distance to be a house and a couple of trees. 

“Mister Harry, do you hear that?” Sophia whispered, her vice grip pressing against his right arm. The girl was probably in fear if the shakes were any indication. “What is that?”

Harry stopped to hear what Sophia was hearing. And after a brief moment of suspenseful silence, Harry heard what could make out to be singing. Soft, melodic, and kind of nostalgic, as if Harry had heard it from somewhere back in Hogwarts. It felt out of place given the environment they are currently in, but it wasn’t unwelcome in Harry’s honest opinion, though the timing could have been different. If the creeks weren’t infested with the dead, Harry would appreciate the nostalgic singing ringing through the trees.

Looking up, however, was a different thing. As soon as the singing got closer and closer, Harry compulsively looked at the sky only to see an approaching figure dressed in red. For a moment he assumed it was a plane and somehow they saw them stranded at the edge of a creek when it seemed to descend, but the assumption quickly disappeared faster than an apparition when the singing drew closer. Another assumption creeped into Harry’s mind, his thoughts were proven correctly: That thing in the sky was the one singing. Wishing he had binoculars – or semi-perfect vision – Harry just watched the skies with a stone tipping off of his heart; he hoped it brought something good, but with his luck he doubted it entirely.

What felt like hours, Harry gave up looking at the sky and had Sophia lead them into the plains where it was open and looked safe. Safer than the woods, anyway, but safe. Post haste, Harry accompanied Sophia and cautiously walked to where the colors were before. 

A melodic screech, however, interrupted him and he came to a full stop. Looking up, Harry’s eyes widened when the entity dressed in red descended fully to the ground and hovered over them. Turned out, the entity was a phoenix; but not just any phoenix.

“Fawkes?”

~

Merle and Daryl were still following the bird until they met the plains. Merle, being Merle, raised his brow at the bird and was about to make a comment about it when Daryl suddenly interrupted him with a heaved sigh.

“What the fuck. Where the fuck was this bird leadin’ us?” Daryl shot a glare to the red bird-brain, who looked contrite with the two dubbed rednecks and fluttered its wings threateningly. 

Merle, though, still caught something in the corner of his eyes when the bird, once again, batted its wings with one single flurry. “Do you not see what’s between those knives of his?” He raised another grey brow. “It has somethin’ and its stubborn enough not to give it to us.”

The indignant bird let out another screech before taking to the sky above them and dropped whatever it was between its talons. Merle caught it with deft hands, looking at the object with something akin to surprise. 

“Well I’ll be damned.”

“What?” Daryl looked over his shorter brother’s shoulder. “Ain’t that the girl’s doll?”

“It's a sign. Doc left us a sign with this bird. Smart son of a bitch. Who knew that poncey bastard was a bird whisperer.” Merle snorted at his own quip before shoving the girl’s doll into his backpack. “We must be goin’ the right direction cause the bird is speedin’ on ahead.” 

“How in the fucking hell did you get that from the doll? What if that bird just picked it up when he saw the two’s dead bodies?” 

“The bastard won’t die.” Merle batted his hands as if there was nothing to worry about at all. “He’s like us, we can’t stay dead cause we know how to survive.”

Daryl snorted. He doubted it. “The guy looks like a short breeze will cave him in. Too smiley for my likings.” 

“When ‘ave I predicted things to go downhill, before?”

“The time you started gambling.” Daryl deadpanned. His eyes growing more amused than intended. “We followin’ the bird or not?”

“Ey! Respect your elders!” 

~

Convincing Rick wasn’t really easy, it wasn’t at all. In fact, it was quite frustrating and Harry was two seconds from cursing the bloody hell out of the Sheriff Deputy. All Harry asked was if he could work alone, isolated from the group outside; but the Sheriff Deputy insisted that he wants to see his boy, and watch Harry undergo the operation himself. 

Hershel in the meantime sent his oldest daughter, Maggie Greene, to escort Lady Grimes from the woods in order to see Rick’s son. Harry would’ve rolled his eyes at how mundane, how normal it sounded. Their lives aren’t considered normal anymore because civilization ceased to exist this time. 

“What if something goes wrong with the surgery? What if he-”

“Rick, I am going to prevent anything from going wrong.within the operation, but what I need from you is your complete and utter trust in me that I will get my job done.”

“Mister Harry, what happened to Carl?” Sophia hesitantly asked, perched on the couch behind the pacing Rick. 

Harry gave her a wry smile. “He was badly injured, so I can’t have you bothering him, alright?” Harry gave her a genuine smile when Sophia nodded politely. Now, if only the father wasn’t hard in persuading. “I do not need an entire troop stressing the boy out, and quite frankly, me! I am applicable to work alone, or do you not have any trust in me, Rick?” 

“I do have trust in you, Harry. I just wants what is best for my son.” Rick gave up pacing in favor of the comfortable armchair he shoved himself into. “Sure you cannot do the operation alone! You’ll need someone monitoring his heartbeat or… or… Can’t I just–”

 

“The more we continue to talk, the less time Carl has before he dies.” Harry says, his occlumency shields kicking into action. “While I am empathetic towards you Rick and your catatonic state, I’d suggest you get some rest because your body is having a bit of trouble recovering from all the stress you’ve gained. In the meantime, I will continue my endeavors in healing your son with proper treatment.”

“Harry what if–”

“Enough with the what-if’s Rick. I will simply ask you this yes-or-no question. Do you want me to operate on your son? If yes, I am able to work alone. If no, then I will ask Hershel to continue with his operation.”

Those few precious moments in time could be well spent operating on his patient, but parental consent was important even in these difficult times. Since he was operating on a child and Rick’s son, Harry understood why he was very hesitant on a solo operation. Harry could feel the empathy coursing through him and the biased compassion he held for the man but Merlin could he be frustrating. Harry, through rigorous training, has infinite amount of patience, but considering he abhorred occlumency passionately, it could wear thin quickly.

The older man closed himself off, withdrawing in a shell he built for himself and hid. His eyes no longer held the bright blue spark he saw back on the highway; it held sorrow, it held regret, it held so much emotion it almost killed Harry. He was warring with himself now looking in both directions for any sort of guidance, but there was none to offer. The question still held within the very tight air surrounding the two within the Greene’s lounge room. In the room ahead laid a dying child awaiting for treatment, but his life depends on his father’s choice.

No amount of compassion could persuade the man. Maybe a bit of realization, might perhaps change his mind? 

And it seems he came to such a thing. He sagged in the couch, nodding his head. The officer dipped his head against his hands after a few seconds. “I trust you, Har. I trust you with my son’s life and I know… I know you’ll do your damn best to save him… so go… go operate on him, please.” He says between his hands. 

Harry bowed. “Thank you, Rick.” Harry says before the door shut with a resounding click.

~

Carl was temporarily placed under a stasis charm until Harry could collect his thoughts. Finding a sudden surge of motivation coursing through his veins, Harry tapped his wand against the walls around the room and enchanted them with the muffliato charm. Now that the room was practically soundproof, Harry transfigured the small end table into a bigger table. 

With a wave of his wand, the window shutters closed and the doors were locked. Sighing quite nervously, Harry pressed the tip of the wand against the zipper of his backpack. The tiny little sigil he drew on the zipper glew a bright green before a large trunk popped into view without any sound. Smiling slightly when he opened the trunk, he browsed whatever memory he had stored within the trunk and the effort he prepared before he arrived in Georgia via Portkey. 

The muggle-grade potions he prepared when Luna forced him onto a quest he knew will never be completed were well within his knowledge; from the Pepper-Ups to the Blood Replenishing Potions, the potions he brewed in case he had to deal with a severe medical case when the man with the blue eyes would ever come into fruition. Though he wasn’t the best at potions, he knew the basics and exceeded brewing the medicinal potions needed when he worked at St. Mungo’s for a time. 

“First I would need to force him to awaken.” Harry pointed the wand at Carl’s body. “Ennervate.”

The little boy’s body rose with a guttural scream. Harry winced at the sheer volume of the screech. Merlin it sounded excruciating. Fortunately, the wards he placed around the room blocked the noise from inside and out. It wasn’t needed to make Rick stress out even more at this point.

“I’m sorry, little guy. I assure you, the pain will be all over when you drink this, alright?” He gave Carl a Blood Replenishing Potion. Rick offered a transfusion but the guy looked feverish and catatonic, applying more stress would eventually lead to a fainting spell; and Harry would not have two patients to tend to when he barely has any medical supplies to even get by as of now. 

The Blood Replenishing Potion comes in handy in these particular circumstances because it is a rather flexible potion. It essentially acts as an adaptive agent which replenishes more blood into the system with the correct type but the potion itself is hard when looking at the ingredients used to brew it specifically. Although he doubted he would need it any time soon lest they mettle with a couple of stragglers, Harry only has a limited supply and so he would need to conserve it when need be. 

However, it doesn’t help the fact the potion tasted like literal dragon dung. When the boy finished the potion with a final wince and a small grimace with a cloud of pain hanging over him, Harry slowly placed the boy back into stasis with a sleeping charm he waved over his face. He would give the boy a dreamless sleep, but Harry would rather have him entertain himself with dreams than waking up to a doctor operating on his body. 

Of course, there was always Fawkes who could heal all with his tears, but healing a wound with magic would perhaps make it worse; or harder for the person to actually heal both mentally and physically. Especially for little Carl who had a bullet shattering into different pieces throughout his body, Harry analyzed this through the diagnostic spell he casted over the boy. He would, of course, need a way to actually suction the fragments from the body. 

“Accio,” he flicked his wrist and his wand immediately surged through the air, landing right into the palm of his hands. “Now, to find the right book.” 

He tapped his wand against Carl’s collar bone, making the little boy’s body completely numb. 

“Hmmm,” He grabbed the closest medical application and spells book he could find in a different compartment from his trunk. He skimmed through the contents of the book, refreshing his memories with the spells and enchantments that is needed to heal the boy without delay. Fortunately, most of it is already applied, but there are options that can be used as an alternative in case the operation does not go as planned.

He could use Accio in order to fulfill the process, but Harry doesn't know if the bullets were lodged into anything important. Including the fact the people outside would be suspicious at the completely short operation, Harry would rather them be happy Carl would potentially heal over time. Though he spent what felt like weeks with the group, he doubt they would ignore the scenario and ask about it when given the chance. Harry would not have that, so the second option felt a bit better.

Tapping his wand three times against the boy’s chest, the spots that shimmered were the scattered bullet fragments throughout the boy’s body. Hopefully, Harry could extract them without any consequences following his actions. So without delay, he pressed the tip of the wand against one entrance wound.

“Magnesis,” Harry’s eyes were bright when the bullet fragment attached itself to the tip of the wand. 

What felt like hours with a steady hand and a nervous countenance, Harry continued with his endeavor healing Carl. From thereon, he repeated the process until it was time to heal the entrance wounds. Luckily, the kid only suffered through six scattered bullet fragments and blood loss; but Harry quickly put a stop to it and now he just has several scars to show. Perhaps Harry could get rid of those scars, but that would seem a bit too suspicious. Instead, Harry placed his wand against Carl’s wounds. The open wounds neatly knitted themselves together until what could only be seen are healing scars. Quickly scourgifying the blood staining the boy’s body, Harry flicked his wrists for everything to return back to normal.

He tapped his trunk six times before it shrunk and popped into the little socket on the zipper of his backpack. A relieved sigh came from Harry’s mouth when Carl began breathing steadily. Scanning the trees, he saw Fawkes settling quite nicely on the perch outside. 

“Now I have to tell your dad you’ll be just fine.” Harry smiled at the sleeping Carl before exiting the room with a flick of his wand. 

Harry’s breath stunted when he realized who was just outside the door, and it happened to be Shane who looked quite shocked. Rick shot up from his seat and looked at Harry with wide eyes. 

The doctor smiled at the bearded man. “He’ll be just fine.” Harry placed a comforting hand on Rick’s shoulder.

“Thank yo- Thank you, Harry.” Rick swallowed. He wrapped his arms around Harry’s lithe shoulders, pulling him tighter against his chest; his head rested against Harry’s shoulder, moving on the side to nestle into the crook of his neck. Harry wrapped his arms around Rick’s back, noting the rise in temperature exuding from the man. “Thank you so much…”

Shane gave Harry a stern look before smirking at the two. “Okay lovebirds, y’all think we can visit Carl and see how he’s doing?” 

Harry nodded with a bit of heat on his cheeks, looking away from the man. “Of course, let me go tell Sophia he’s alright, alright?” 

“Alright,” Shane quirked a brow and inclined his head slightly. The gesticulation confused Harry, and it was left unexplained when Shane’s body disappeared behind the door to Carl’s temporary room. 

“Well that went quickly,” Hershel commented, eyeing Harry suspiciously but with a hint of generosity in that twinkle of his. He smiled at Harry though pushing himself from the wall he was leaning on. “Are they the people you were talking about when you arrived here?’

Harry nodded, smiling at the old man. “I’m sorry for being a burden, Mister Greene.” 

“Hershel, Mister Potter, Hershel will do fine.” 

“If so, I’d extend the invitation to call me Harry, Hershel.” Harry’s smile brightened when Sophia popped her head from the wall, looking at Harry with wide eyes. 

“Okay, Harry.” Hershel nodded. “The little girl grew tired of getting the eggs from the coops, I guess.” 

“Well, I guess she wanted to know if Carl is indeed alright. Which he is, and you do get to see him. However, I must advise not waking him up until he has fully recovered.” Harry reminded. Sophia nodded her head in response before scurrying into the room.

“Will the boy be alright?”

Harry nodded minutely. “He’ll be just fine. Perhaps a bit fuzzy when he wakes up and feverish given the stress, but all-in-all he’ll be just fine.” 

Hershel nodded in acceptance. “I would’ve pulled the whole operation out of nowhere, if I am going to be honest. So I’m really grateful for you stepping in as you did.”

“Of course, but do you not have a medical background? I swore I saw some diplomas on the walls coming here…”

“I’m a veterinarian,” Harry’s mouth shaped an ‘o’ shape. “I work with big animals like cows, horses, things that aren’t normally kept as pets. Why do you think I gotta farm to raise my family in?” 

“Pity, I believe I would be the only one patching people up.” The brit sighs, amusing the older man.

“Unless you have animals, of course.” Hershel snorted when Harry snorted.

“They’re all animals, you can take them,” Harry chortles. 

Hershel chuckled a bit. “You’ll vouch for them that they won’t harm my family?”

“I can’t say they won’t attack, but only when provoked. They’ve been through a lot, really.” Harry says truthfully. He could see himself trusting the older man, who looked a lot like Dumbledore… oddly. “I’ve only joined recently and stayed for what? Three weeks? Felt a bit longer considering what happened before arriving here.” 

The older man nodded in acceptance. The answer seemed to have satisfied him for now. “Good.”

“What’s happened to my son?” A screech suddenly pulled the two out of their conversation, detracting their attention away from one another. “What the fuck did you do to my son?” 

The screech turned out to be from Lori Grimes who had a trailing Maggie Greene right behind her as she strode in the door as if she owned the place. She had her arms akimbo, making Harry raise his brow. And considering she is insinuating he was the one who shot her son brewed a storm in Harry’s stomach. How dare she? 

Also, didn’t Lori once say she was once a proud Christian? That mouth is certainly not Christian. But it made Harry sigh nevertheless, sending a quick apologetic look at Hershel who seemed affronted with the expletives streaming from the woman’s mouth. “I’ve done my job, if that is what you are asking me with such profound language.” He snipped, offended by her insinuation.

“Is your job shooting my son?!” The woman says hysterically making Harry a bit exasperated with her behavior. 

Maggie decided to speak up knowing a fight might break given the pensive tension filling the air. “Excuse me, ma’am. It seems you got it mistaken. It wasn’t Harry who shot your son. It was our Otis who didn’t see the boy when he went hunting for game in the woods.” 

Lori scoffed, doubting it entirely. She turned her head obviously ignoring the other lady.“I demand to see my son, right now!” 

Harry waved at the door with a saccharine smile, egging the woman on more. Shutting the door after she stomped right in, Harry gave them both an apologetic smile. 

“We don’t get along.” Harry bluntly states with a wave of his hand.

“I don’t know why she’s blaming you ‘cause you healed her boy.” Hershel crossed his arm while looking at the door with a minute glare. “Did you tell her who shot her before, Mag?”

Maggie shook her head. “She was shocked. This is the first time I heard her speak since I arrived. I’m sorry, Harry. I didn’t know she would pin the blame on you.”

Harry shook his head and batted his hands at her apology. “There is nothing to be sorry for truthfully. It is between her and I to sort out on our own ordeals like adults.” He sighs. “Perhaps not like adults, but we’ll see.”

Maggie nodded her head in acceptance, advancing towards the door. 

“Is the boy okay?” A round man asked from the door in such a meek voice, as if the very world would swallow him whole. When he came closer from the door, his face became visible and it worried Harry because of how black and blue it was. It seems he was the one who shot Carl. 

Shane certainly did a number on him. Though… it pales in comparison to what he’s done to Sophia’s dad. 

Harry nodded. “Yes, he is. There is no need to worry. Though the bullet did split into six different fragments, I was able to extract them cleanly. Now he is currently resting with a few scars and quite a fever. If it is no bother, however…”

“Whot?” 

“Is it possible if I can take a look at your face?” Harry waved at him to sit down on one of the floral-patterned armchairs available in the sitting space. “It seems my friend did a number on you, for which I apologize for on his behalf.”

“I-I deserved it, and it’s fine. Thank you for offerin’, my wife is more than ready to patch me up herself.”

Harry nodded in acceptance. “If you’re sure,” he smiles at the man. 

The wizard turned when he heard the door open. Checking with a quick glance at the door, he saw Shane hovering over him with arms crossed who seemed to have adopted a thunderous expression on his face. 

“We’re gonna talk.” Shane stated, and without a single glance towards anyone currently standing in the room he drags Harry from the room. The wizard himself spluttered indignantly, yet continued following after Shane because the man was strong and he had quite a vice grip against his forearm. 

Fortunately, the distance was kept short and right out of prying ears. Meaning, Harry was dumped on a picnic table outside of the house in the Greene’s backyard. He was then pinned up against the table with a hovering Shane who was glaring at the plethora of cuts and bruises staining Harry’s face. 

“Hello.”

Shane raised a brow. “You’ve been gone for an entire day, all you can say is ‘hello?’” 

Harry nodded. 

“Fuckin’ cheeky ass…” Shane shook his head with an amused smirk. It was, however, short-lived. “You’re stupid.”

“Wha-”

“Uh-uh…” Shane placed his index finger on Harry’s lips, heeding the oncoming protest. “ Lemme finish. You’re stupid for being fuckin’ stupid! You ran away after a child when there was a shit ton of walkers passin’ by like a goddamn tsunami, and you expect me to stay calm after findin’ your scrawny ass? And your damn legs are bruised up, yet you still run-the-gun despite knowing your leg was fucked up. Sounds pretty justified, ain’t it?” 

“I-I h-had good reason to…”

“You had good reason to, and I like that about you Har, you always have a good reason; but goin’ after someone with a damn busted leg when it could’ve been done more quickly with two other people… fuck, I wouldn’t have to be so fuckin’ worried! You damn near gave me a heart attack!” Shane pressed his head against Harry’s shoulder. “I thought I-we lost you! You know... You’re our only doctor, who in the hell gon’ patch us up when you’re dead?” 

“Sophia would’ve died out there, Shane. You know that, I know that, so I think my reason is pretty much justified as well.” Harry stated after finally pulling away from the man. “You have all survived without me for so long, I do not think you really need-”

“Stop with this self-sacrificing bullshit! You know we need you just as much as you need us, Har. You told me yourself, you told me you need us, Har.” Shane pressed his head against Harry’s forehead. His voice dipped low to a husky range, his breaths brushing against Harry’s neck. “Didn’t you… Didn’t you promise me you’ll never leave me? Make sure you keep that promise.” 

“W-Wha-, no I never…” 

Shane snorted. If it was any other situation, Harry would’ve followed in the muscled man’s amusements but right now there wasn’t any he could find within himself. He was a bit flabbergasted to be frank. “I’m gonna go check if everyone made it here without any hassle. Heard the lady talkin’ about dinner with the folks here, can’t wait for actual home cooked. Haven’t had any since, well, shit hit the fan. You best be staying on this fine property they have here, not chasin’ after people runnin’ in those woods over there. You hear me?”

Deciding to not fight the man and his obstinate demands, Harry was still flabbergasted. 

“Wha-wha…”

He nods. “That was a direct command, lieutenant.” Shane snorts. “Just don’t go off on another adventure, okay doc?”

Harry nodded, swallowing. “O-okay…”

“I don’t want you leavin’ me doc, not ever alright?.” Shane says right before disappearing behind the door.

Harry was left speechless, enough to not give a direct response… again

~

“Thank you, thank you, thank yo-”

Harry’s eyes were wide, his cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, and he felt somewhat good with himself. “It-it’s okay, Carol, uh… uhm… anyone would’ve done what I’ve done…”

“But you stayed with my baby, you didn’t leave her out for dead or-or worse…” Carol gave him a really tight hug, tighter than Rick’s it seems. “I’m really thankful you stayed even with your bad leg. Thank you, I don-I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you, Harry.” 

The wizard stared at an amused Rick and Shane standing around with crossed arms and smirks on their faces. They had the audacity to shake their heads when they noticed the wizard staring at them. Pouting inwardly, Harry grabbed Carol’s shaking hands and smiled at the mousy woman. “It’s alright. You don’t have to repay me. Keeping Sophia safe and within these walls is all I ask for.”

“God bless you, Harry, god bless you!” Carol says after kissing his cheek. She walked away with tears in her eyes, joining the rest for the oncoming dinner Maggie was currently cooking up in the kitchen; Harry smiled when he caught her wrapping a lanky arm around her daughter and pulling her close to her chest before she took her seat.

“You saved two lives today, Har.” Rick compliments, his eyes warm. “Two lives. I think you deserve a little break.”

Harry was amused at the prospect of a break. “Imagine that. Then don’t get injured again, ever, in fact. For the whole day. Let’s see how long you will last without my medical touch.”

Shane raised a brow. “You haven’t even touched us, but, who? Jim, Carl, and dead people, man. You touched more dead people than living people, Har.”

“Oi!” Harry scoffed. “In fact, I’m about to touch Rick who… do you still have that fever?”

“Nah that juice you gave me calmed it down, it looks like.” The Deputy shrugged. 

“Welp… make that four people now, Shane. I’ve touched Rick. And probably… is that Merle and Daryl?”

Shane’s eyes squinted slightly. His gaze was fixated on the two running rednecks coming at them with a red bird hightailing them. Raising another brow, Shane went in to look closer only to find the rednecks were getting closer, and closer…

“Why did you piss them off, you fuckin’ idiot?!” Daryl hisses. 

“I didn’t know they understood human, fuckah.” Merle shot back. “Just fuckin’ RUN!”

“What is going on with them?” Harry asks, “Is that Fawkes?’

“Fawkes? Is that that bird?”

Harry nodded. “He came here looking for me, I guess.”

“All the way from England?”

“Maybe…” Harry responded, rubbing his chin. “Looks like it, actually.”

“Huh,” the two officers grunted in unison.

“So… How did you get out of that mess?” Rick asks, sitting down on the log near the campfire. Looks like they were staying on the Greene’s property until Carl recovers, it seems. “The creek was infested with walkers. I don’t think you could’ve handled that with your legs there.”

“Okay what is up with people reminding me about my bad leg? Literally, first it was the highway suicide attempt and now this… Merlin.” Harry mutters indignantly, pouting as he sat down near Rick. “Now what was it? You want to hear… oh it was relatively nothing big, really, or an epic odyssey at all. In fact, it was quite boring.”

Shane snorted. “I doubt that.” He sat on the opposite side of the two, arms busying with polishing his shotgun. “So tell us, how did you guys spend a day in those woods?” 

“Not stroking a shotgun a long one, I’ll tell you that…” Harry remarked and laughed with Rick. Shane gave them a venomous glare before doting on his gun once again. “No… we arrived here after we were lost in the forest…”

“The way you ran off like that… That was pretty stupid on you, Har…” Rick grunted when Harry decked his shoulder. “What? I’m just stating the truth. You got a pretty bust up leg, and you went bolting in that forest for Sophia. That was dumb on your part.”

“There is no need to remind me. Shane already gave me an entire lecture I don’t need another earful.”

Rick snorted. “Okay, okay, I won’t.”

“I hope nobody was injured during my absence…” Harry looked between the two muscular men when they looked at each other awkwardly.

Shane cleared his throat. “Uh… uh, T-Dog was injured during that hoard fiasco.”

“What happened?” Harry felt his eyebrow twitch. Seriously? “And why didn’t you mention this at all?” 

“Because he was healed, Har.” Shane says bravely. “That juice you left in the truck and those herbs came in handy, dude.” 

Rick nodded. “Yeah. His arm stopped bleeding, and now he’s coming here in Dale’s RV.”

Harry’s eyes widened. He left a potion in Shane’s car? Oh Merlin what was it? Recounting the limited information he had stored in his memory made no mention of any potion he had left. But if it healed the wound, then it would either be a muggle-grade Blood Replenishing Potion or Murtlap Essence perhaps… It was probably the Murtlap Essence… 

“Did it have a blue tint on it?”

Rick nodded in response, looking confused at the slight fear in Harry’s eyes. “Yeah, it did. Why?”

“He didn’t drink it, right?”

“No, he never.” Shane assured. “He just sprayed it on his arm, and boom, the wound stopped bleeding. It almost looked like Wolverine, man. I mean you kinda left instructions on it too.”

“Wolverine?” 

“Seriously?”

“Don’t listen to him, Har. When we were kids, he had this obsession over the X-men and other superheroes, it grew to a point where he would dress up like one every single day.” Rick snorted, recalling those specific memories where he saw his own brother in all but blood in a cape and mask. “And wolverine is that guy with regeneration and long ass metal claws.”

Harry cocked his head. Muggles certainly did enjoy the simplest things in comparison to the wizarding community, who enjoys the rather extraordinary events. It also did not help that he didn’t quite grow a similar reaction to comic books because Dudley would always beat him up with it after finishing the thing. 

“Maybe we can scavenge ‘round a comic store and loot some of those comics so I can show ya the vintage, the story those comics have. It made me love reading, in fact.” Shane looked so proud of himself Harry had to smile, it was kinda adorable.

But of course, being one of his good friends, Rick had to ruin his moment. “That’s ‘cause it has pictures on every page instead of words.”

“Shuddap, not like my mum read to me every night. I’m more of an action guy, I follow where the action is.” 

“So dramatic,” Harry drawled, snorting in his hand. 

Rick rolled his eyes, which was belied by his amused smile. “Yeah you’re all action alright. High school, you would always pick a fight with the seniors and the junior varsity football team ‘cause they wouldn’t let you play that season.” He recalled.

“Seriously?”

“Oh yeah,” Rick nodded while looking at Harry whose eyes were on a flustered Shane. “There were times I had to help his ass out ‘cause they would jump’em too when we weren’t looking. Then suddenly he realized, maybe we should be cops! And look at where that got us, huh dude?”

“Yeah straight into an apocalypse.” Shane was affronted by the fact his friend had to tell Harry a really embarrassing side of him; he could do it himself too! “Not like I really asked for it, but I am kinda grateful for it, though.”

“Why?” Harry asked, confused.

“‘Cause I wouldn’tve met you.” 

“Liar,” Harry says but was nevertheless flattered, and a bit embarrassed. “Stop.”

“We’re grateful for what you did and done for us, Har.”

“I really didn-”

“Stop with that self-deprecating bs, you know we are grateful for what you’ve done with both Carl and Sophia. Even if the latter could’ve been avoided, we, spoken for the whole group, are thankful and we couldn’t ask for a better doctor and a better friend.” Shane interrupted. Rick wrapped his arm around the thinner man, pulling him in. 

“Stop. You’re making me all red.” Harry pouted. “Anyway, I do not think Lori is very grateful for my help.”

“The woman is delusional,” Shane bluntly remarked.

“That’s my wife, Shane.” Rick raised a brow but he didn’t look offended in the slightest. “But yeah, she was hysterical back at camp adding on the stupid scientist and Carl gettin’ shot, I’m afraid she’s gotten a little off her kilter. Which speakin’ about that scientist, why was he looking at you that day? Before he blew us up.”

“How do you mean?”

“You were staring at him like you could read his mind or something, kinda looked creepy if you asked me.” 

Harry blinked. A sudden spark of realization came to fruition. “Ah! Well, he kinda reminded me of someone who lost all faith, really. The look in his eyes… they were… done, dull, void; he really did not have the will to continue living even if he had to take unwilling people with him in his own destruction.”

“Who was that someone?” Shane asks, staring intently at Harry who’s head was bowed down slightly. “Har?”

Harry gave them both a wry smile. No one, because he was lying but he kept his mouth shut. Memories weren’t ready to be dabbled with at this time, but he would eventually tell them. “No one important. I just had a patient who did not want to continue living and tried taking others with him because he knew he was to be imprisoned after he healed.”

“You told me something about this back at the quarry. ‘It’s amazing what people will do when they know their life is coming to an imminent end.’ I guess it kinda went that way with Jenner.” 

Harry nodded in agreement. “Everything he held dear was his end. His wife died, his whole team gave up, all those memories bundled up into a ticking time bomb. It was inevitable and we did not realize until the very last second.” There was more, of course, but Harry didn’t want to speak ill of the dead considering Shane and his vast opinion on broaching this particular subject. He had opinions himself on the other doctor but none was ill conceived. “A scalpel can save a life or end one.” 

“Okay… since we decided to go there, why don’t we get on with dinner? I think the old man is waving us in.” Shane noted with a glance towards the door. Hershel was indeed waiting for them, waving them in with a wrinkled hand. 

Harry nodded. “Shall we?”

“We shall,” Rick snorted. 

~

The next day was celebrated with a bright morning, a good hearty breakfast, and a recovered Carl. Although the group’s morale were prosperous, Rick and Shane was trying to convince Hershel for letting them stay in the backyard longer than needed. Hershel only agreed letting Carl recover, but he bumped it up to two weeks after Jim helped him out with his old truck. 

Harry was busy tending with Carl who grew restless having been bedridden for a good three hours.

“You know, your wounds will open if you continue fumbling with the bed sheets, Carl.” Harry quipped with an amused smirk. The child pouted.

“It's unfair! Sophia gets to play with the chickens and I’m here, drinking poop flavored medicine.” Carl’s arms were now crossed, staring at the pillow as if it was the cause of his problem 

“You’ll get to play with the chickens after giving your body a good long rest, alright? But if you continue fumbling with your sheets and moving aimlessly, I will not administer a period for which you’ll be able to go outside.” Harry admonished leaving a sheepish Carl before him.

“I get to go outside?” Carl’s eyes brightened, amusing Harry immensely. Children’s emotions seemed to shift from one point to another, kind of hilarious in the wizard’s opinion.

“If you continue to kick at your sheets recklessly, you won’t be able to go outside to play with the chickens.”

Carl stopped kicking his sheets almost immediately. Harry snorted at the child’s behavior and continued dabbing the leftover murtlap essence on Carl’s wounds. They were stitching up nicely, healing cleanly as well. Fortunately, the scars were there and it didn’t look too suspicious. Fawkes tried to offer his tears but the wizard was quick to bat the bird away. 

“You’ll be able to go outside within an hour. Your dad is going to visit you after setting up the tents outside, alright?” 

“Thank you Harry! For everything, actually…”

“Of course.” Harry smiled at the kid before leaving the room only to be greeted by a bald Shane.

“What the-”

“Look good?”

“You look like an egg…” Harry commented. He gasped slightly and slammed his hand on his mouth. “I mean you look good… Aren’t you kind of taking this farmer look too far, though?”

Shane did not look offended by his blunt comment if a bit amused. “Are the overalls too much?”

The flannel and the overalls were too much in Harry’s honest opinion, so he nodded fervently. “Yes. And if I see you with a straw hat while chewing on a stalk of wheat, I might actually start laughing hysterically on the floor.”

“I don’t think Hershel has any lyin’ around. But there’s bunch of wheat on the field over there.” Shane snorted. “Gotta work on my stereotypical backwater accent too.” 

“Just take lessons from Merle, he seems to excel at that.” Harry chuckled. “So what’s up with the new look? You know staying here is temporary, right?” 

“Yeah I know that, I was there Har. It's just gettin’ hot wearing my uniform around and all that shit, so I asked the big fella if he had spare clothes he could give and he gave me this catastrophe.”

“They are a bit too big on you,” Harry commented, picking at the long flannel sleeves cuffed at Shane’s bulging biceps. The wizard had to stop blinking and blushing because the man was staring at him. “A-Anyway, what are we doing today?”

~

“Saw the weirdest thing when I was out on patrol near those woods you scurried off to.” Merle says abruptly ruining the silence Harry had walled up nursing a cup of tea Maggie gave. Sighing, Harry’s attention were on Merle the second the man plopped himself on a bench. “A guy committed suicide.”

 

“You’re starting off with that, aren’t you?” Harry raised his brow. “I don’t think it is a surprise anymore than it is a tragedy, Merle.”

“That ain’t it though. The fucker hung on a branch-”

“I don’t need the details.”

 

“The fucker hung on a branch lower than a motherfucker, but he didn’t have no bite.” Merle finished with a finishing smirk. “He turned to one right ugly without a single bite. Now doc, I know you probably don’t know how people started eatin’ each other, but I wanna know what the fuck was up with that!”

 

“Mayhaps the person received the bite as he’s hanging on the tree. There are many possibilities to how the person turned.” Harry postulated, sipping his tea as he spoke. “And you seem frightened by this knowledge, Merle.”

“I gotta brother to protect.”

Harry blinked. He didn’t expect that to come from Merle’s mouth. 

“I can care less for the other motherfuckers, but you two needa survive.”

Nope everything was normal with Merle. “That is a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

“Need I remind you, sonny, that they were willin’ to let me die and bake back at the roof? They handcuffed ole Merle ‘cause of your Officer Friendly and that black motherfucker dropped those fucking keys! If that ain’t a fuckin’ crime I don’t know what is.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “You have to take into account the amount of rushing we’ve all done when we realized Officer Friendly finally arrived back at the department store. And the fact the store was currently flooding with those monsters. While I do agree that T-Dog should’ve handled the keys to your cuffs with care, there was a lot going on.” 

Merle scoffed and snorted. “Yeah, yeah. So where the fuck were you and how the hell do you know that damn big red chicken.”

“The big red chicken has a name, you know? His name’s Fawkes and I knew him since I went to boarding school. He was considered my headmaster’s rightful companion ever since his discovery.” Just as he said those words, Fawkes arrived with a swoop, landing on the wizard’s shoulder. “Why? Has he been giving you all trouble?”

“Nah, all he did was give us sass and the girl’s doll.”

“Oh so you two discovered my little message?”

“Yeah that red swan gave it to us by the time we reached the farm.” Merle gruffed. “Not gonna lie it was pretty smart you givin’ us that message. At least we didn’t have to go around those summin’ acres lookin’ for the girl’s and your asses.” 

“Nice to know you care, Merle.” 

~

“What are you setting up here?” 

“Came here to tease me more?” Shane raised a brow and gestured for Harry to come closer. “Lucky I changed when Dale arrived.”

“Shoots, missed opportunity,” Harry smirked. “What are Glenn and Maggie up to? I just saw them walking in that direction.” He pointed to where he last saw the two.

“Probably gonna go on a pharmacy run.” Shane eyebrows twitched. “Hershel said we had to cough up our weapons ‘cause he doesn’t want his home to be turned into an armed camp.”

“Well it is his property, we should respect his judgement.” Harry’s face remained neutral. “Rick you need helping there?”

Rick is currently carrying a haystack. Harry was impressed with how much the man could lift, but he looked like he was struggling a bit there. “Nah, nah, I got it, Har.”

“If you’re sure your muscles could handle it…”

“Wait…” Rick placed the haystack down. “Are you callin’ me old?” 

“Yeah.” Harry nodded before bolting down the yard. 

“Motherfucker,” Rick curses, chasing after Harry with Shane following them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading! A kudos and comment are welcome 'cause they really butter my toaster strudel! Next chapter is being written right now, and it'll hopefully come out soon!


	8. Baiting a Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello there!
> 
> So uh... I want to try to do some character development so everything will not be bundled up into one chapter lolololol. And I decided to make it a Rick/Harry/Shane pairing. Yeah... 
> 
> Anyway consider this a starting point to the drama that is Season 02 of The Walking Dead... lololol.

Events were always sporadic, for Harry it always happened consecutively. Fortunately, he had a break between the war and the dead rising from the ground, yet he couldn’t quite keep out of situations that weren’t dire. And now, he has the distinct feeling something ugly was brewing in the air. With his luck, he didn’t doubt something bad would happen like the night of their final stay at the quarry so instead Harry placed his attention on helping his patient heal. 

Well, somewhat. He couldn’t do it effectively with a worried father breathing down his neck. It kind of felt like Snape but without a need to hold back a snarky quip. 

“You know, the amount of standing you’ve been doing over there in the corner could potentially help healing your son’s fever.” Harry rolled his eyes when the shadow dissipated from his peripheral, Rick materializing at his side with a sheepish smile on his face. “I know you’re worried, but you needn’t be ‘cause I did heal your son, you know. His body is just stressed so a fever arose. Wipe his head for me, yes?” 

Rick nodded his head, taking the proffered rag dipped in clean, crisp water. He pressed the rag on his son’s heated head delicately. “Like this?”

Harry nodded his head with one of his warm smiles. “Yes, Rick. You’re doing well.”

“He had this fever for how long now? Two nights?” Rick asks looking at Harry with a critical eye. “How long have  _ you  _ not been sleeping, Har?”

“It takes the body a while to heal and adapt to their current conditions,” Harry quirked his head. “Low-grade fevers are usually quite common after surgery normally for two nights. So this should be his final night dealing with this, but if it does persist give him some of this.” He offered Rick a small magenta vial. “Just some, though.”

“You didn’t answer my question, Har.” Rick raised a brow at his good friend while taking the vial from Harry’s hand.

“I technically did,” Harry pointed out but Rick gave him a soft, worrying glare.

Harry sighed. He honestly doesn’t know when he closed his eyes. There were times where he felt like the plush armchair in  the corner of the room seemed comfortable for a good nap, but he had a patient to monitor on a fixed schedule. It felt like a few days were quickly passing the wizard by with the way time speeds up in relatively critical moments. Healing, eating small meals Maggie provided, and periodically resting his eyes in between sessions were now slowly taking a toll on the wizard. Rubbing his tired eyes, he offered Rick an exhausted smile.

“You don’t need to worry, Rick.” Harry offered with a small nudge on the officer’s ribcage. “Your son is all that matters at the moment. I mean, he is on the bed for a reason, right?”

“Also our only doctor,” Rick pointed out, nudging Harry back. “Y’know there are times where you could ask for help, Har.”   


“I know, Rick.” Harry says, looking at the floor properly chastised. Shrugging, he says “Old habits die hard, I guess.”  
  
Rick raised a brow. “Old habits?” 

Wincing at his slip up, he covered it with a chuckle. “A story for another time.”  
  
Out of nowhere, Rick says “A campfire sounds nice.” Rick chuckles deciding to change the topic. “Stories around the campfire, a good smore, and some music are essential for camping out.”

“As much as it pains me to say, I do not think we would have the luxury in making smores as I gave my last chocolate bar to Sophia.” Harry mused, taking over Rick’s job. He snorted at Rick’s appalled look. “But we could have a nice egg breakfast tomorrow morning. Hershel did give Sophia and I a batch of eggs when we offered to feed the chickens the time we arrived here. And we could still tell stories around the campfire, but music seems a bit risky given our current situation.” 

“Walkers don’t make anything fun anymore, don’t it?” Rick says disappointedly. “Guess we gotta make do with what we already got, huh?” 

Harry nodded in response. “I’m sorry, Rick.”

“Nah,” Rick pressed a hand against Harry’s shoulder. “Nothing to be sorry about. It’s funny seeing your bird outside the window looking in, though.”

“He’s used to being a spoiled bird,” Harry watched Fawkes who was perched on the branch near the window looking into Carl’s room. Speaking of birds...“I used to have an owl.”

Rick’s eyebrows, once again, raised in query. Curious, not many people kept owls as pets around these parts. Unless it's a Europe thing? “An owl? As a pet?”

Harry sighed sadly already feeling the tears slowly ebb through his eyes. Hedwig, the first friend Harry had since his sudden revelation delivered by a gentle half giant, died by sacrificing her life during their chase in the air. A true Gryffindor and a loyal friend. “She wasn’t necessarily a pet. More like a friend, really. My first friend, actually.” Harry smiled at the thought of his dearly missed friend. “A beautiful snow owl, adoring, mothering, and loyal to a fault, everything you can ask for as an abused eleven year old boy.” 

Rick winced at the mention of the psychological abuse his friend had went through. Of course, he decided to shift away from that sensitive topic with an even more sensitive topi. “Did she…”

“She died before this,” Harry nodded. “I wouldn’t put her through this if I had anything to say about it.”  

“Oh, shit… I’m sorry Har…” Rick’s eyes fixated on the ground.

Harry bemusedly smiled at the man. “Nothing to be sorry about Rick. Of course I mourn her death and it assuredly punched an enormous hole in my already shattering heart, I don’t feel the need to take offense when someone asks.”

“Still… she was your first friend, Har. She meant a lot to you.” Rick’s hands were now pressed against Harry’s temple. The gesture kind of endeared Harry a bit, making him flush. 

Harry long stopped dabbing Carl’s head with the water that was quick to warm as the time flew by the two. Instead of staying silent and blushing like a little school girl, Harry placed the rag back into the water and looked at Rick fully.

“She did. She meant the entire world to me, but I’m not going to constantly mourn her death every single moment. My teachings in becoming a healer and a doctor stems from accepting death as a whole new adventure. There are times where you’ll miss having them by your side, but as you look at it, they are constantly at your side. Even if you do not believe in religion or believe in another, family would always stick together.” Harry placed his hand on Rick’s shoulders. “Carl seems to be stabilizing well. When he wakes up in the morning, he should feel fine. Let him stretch out his legs because I do not think he still has the patience staying in the room. Now I’m going to get some sleep where I can since Hershel has offered me his couch. Goodnight Rick.”

Rick smiled at the doctor. “Night, Har.” 

~

Jim was content. He had a belly full of food, a member of their little troop is healing exceptionally well thanks to their resident doctor, and they are currently staying somewhere where they do not have to worry about the dead for miles, so he was more than justified for the contentedness slowly manifesting in himself. 

After debriefing with their unannounced leader of their ragtag group, Jim found himself taking the night shift out near the barn. Of course he knew their stay here was only temporary, he was more than willing to do his part in protecting their current shelter. Even though Jim knew they would be leaving soon after given how suspiciously good their doctor healed the boy, which astonished him at first but he was more than relieved they hadn’t lost anyone since the quarry. 

He had a few moments of silence, enjoying the tranquility the plains often offered. The nice crisp breeze brushing against his face, the full moon bright and white offering its pure glory on the world, and the stars shining brightly against the painted night sky. But he hears something growling, so he assumed it was a walker. The moment of peace and quiet quickly shattered, he could hear the beating of a drum slowly playing in his mind. He readied himself, his teeth gritting. He raised his shovel into a battle position, and as he advanced closer to the source of the noise, he pressed against something hard. Blinking in confusion, Jim was staring up at the barn, surveying it with limited night vision the softly dim lights could provide. There was nothing within his sights, which made him inadvertently stepping near the barn

Then he heard it again. A snarl, a walker snarl. Weirded out, Jim walked closer to the barn and pressed his ear against the big wooden door.

Another snarl came forth, but it came at multiple times. Jim could make out even more snarls when a moment passed by. Deciding to get a birds eye view, Jim climbed the piled hay bales until he reached the small window looking down on the barn. 

What he saw was horrifying and disgusting. What looked like a hive of bees turned out to be a barn full of walkers. He could distinctly make out the littering corpses on the ground, which turned out to be animals.. When he got a bit closer, reluctantly, he observed the dead chickens littering the blood stained floor. Were the Greenes  _ feeding  _ these walkers? Swallowing his rising bile, Jim jumped back down to ground level and ran back to the campsite. 

The next day was just the same. But Jim took his discovery and hid it underneath his own silent visage he built for himself. Meanwhile, Harry found it odd when Jim told the group, at camp, he was no longer going to set up a watchpoint at the barn anymore. Rick accepted it nonetheless without any explanation. Another dinner with the Greene’s initiated with the aspect of surviving the night and Carl being in good health. Harry had allowed Carl to also enjoy the festivities so he could walk around, exercising his legs a bit before Harry had to put him to bed. He watched Carl slowly make his way to Sophia with a plate of his own food. Smiling at the two, he turned to Shane on his right.

“This is nice…” Harry commented but his eyes were drawn to Shane’s now bald head. Then he started laughing after a few snorts. “I can’t stop looking at your shiny head…”   


Shane glared at Harry. “Shut it, doc.” He snorts. After a moment, he gives the younger man a lopsided smirk. “But I can agree it is pretty nice havin’ a home cooked meal and eating around a table. Haven’t had one since you cooked breakfast at the CDC.” 

“Most of them were pre-made…” Harry seemed sheepish and pleased at Shane’s compliment. 

“But you made them so f-ing good. Beats having squirrel the redneck brothers kept on bringing to camp.” Shane snorts at the thought of the two brothers hauling ass for a couple of squirrels. “Pft. I remember comparing them to a couple of dogs. Chasin’ squirrels until they barked their own tree..” 

“Don’t be mean, Shane.” Harry admonished. “Speaking of rednecks, where are they?”

“They went into the woods again looking to spot any game lurking around. Daryl is still pretty salty with his deer being eaten up by an ugly back at the quarry. Now he’s aiming for the big ones.” Shane shrugged uncaringly. “They’re good for somethin’ at least.”   


“Yeah and all you’re good at is talking smack and sporting a nicely polished head.” Harry snorted.”What talent…” He drawled. 

Shane flushed, embarrassed by Harry’s consistent jabs at his head. “If I knew I was gonna be shit on by you, Har, I wouldn’t have shaved my head.”

“Then you would’ve been sporting a potential afro, and you my dear, no matter how roguish you think you are, cannot sport an afro.” Harry snorted, picturing it now had him almost keeling over his seat in a fit of laughter. “Did I ever ask why the sudden change in appearance?”   


“Yeah but you were busy admiring my shiny head.” Shane glared without any heat. “Hows the little fella doing?”  
  
“Carl?” Harry points at the kid laughing away with Sophia near the Greene’s lounge room. “He’s doing exceptionally well for a child who was basically pincushioned by bullet fragments. Realistcally, I am allowing him this moment of freedom to stretch his legs out and talk with others outside of his makeshift hospital room.” 

“Seems legit,” Shane took a sip of the wine Hershel set for them. “You okay with Glenn and Maggie going out on the run tomorrow?”   


Harry nodded his head. 

Glenn is quick on his feet in detrimental situations and if worst-comes-to-worst, then he’ll be able to pull Maggie out of it with her head remaining on her shoulders. Harry cannot really judge Maggie all that well so he stayed silent on that note. 

“I’m fine with it, really. What I’m more worried about is Jim…” Harry turned towards the man standing in the corner who adopted a dark countenance looming over his knitted eyebrows. It is like seeing his younger self in the mirror again, which made Harry blink twice. 

“Why’s that?”

“He’s been a lot silent since the last dinner, awfully silent. He was talking with Otis over there and his wife, Patricia, now he just stands at the corner looking pensive.” Harry glanced at the bearded man again who gave the room a very heavy look that spoke volumes. “I wonder what’s on his mind.”

“Where was he stationed last night?”

Although their stay on the farm was already waning given how quickly Carl is recovering, Rick has offered Hershel a bit more protection than the gates he had around his little ranch. He stationed people who were assigned to be out watch for any stray dead, and Jim was stationed near the barn with that shovel of his. Harry relayed it to Shane who waved it away with a bat of his hands. 

“Probably something to worry about later. For now we enjoy what we have in front of us and deal with what’s ahead of us later.” Shane bumped his glass against Harry’s own glass of water and finished with one big gulp. 

Harry sighed. “I guess…”  


~

Glenn doesn’t remember ever being approached by a pretty girl, willingly anyway. Usually they remained aloof when he was paired with one during his high school life, and who would want to date a pizza delivery boy who can barely scrape by? He can barely pay his rent with his annual income. So really, he accepted being a virgin for the rest of his life; he also accepted the fact he might die as a virgin, which he couldn’t quite decipher how he felt about that prospect. 

That is until now. 

When he first saw the beautiful brunette, she was riding a horse and the first thing that came from her mouth was  _ “Lori? Lori Grimes?” _ which eventually lead the group to their current stay. They didn’t follow immediately, no, Glenn had to find Dale and T-Dog and they arrived separately with their respected vehicles. Then again, none of the vehicles were his but he felt pretty proud driving them like the time he drove a sports car! 

Then he saw her again when Harry finished healing Carl honest-to-God fast. She enraptured him even more when he noticed her on the porch polishing the baseball bat she wielded, which lead to her smiling at both Glenn and T-Dog when they caught her attention. The smile almost knocked the senses out of the asian amusing the man next to him to a high-degree. 

Afterwards, when the leaders of the group established their footing here on the farm, Glenn was a little down with how quickly they might leave when Harry told them all that Carl won’t be bedridden for long. That just means Glenn won’t have any opportunities talking with Maggie more or even looking at her from the distance. Shane and Rick both used the opportune moment in turning a portion of the farmyard into a training ground, which Hershel was peeved but reluctantly agreed without another word, and Maggie took that moment to talk with Glenn. 

Shocked, Glenn spluttered. “Uh… uhm…” What does he say when a pretty girl approaches him, willingly? 

“I hear you’re fast on your feet and know how to get in and out,” she says with that country drawl of hers, taking a crossed arm stance in front of Glenn. 

The same guy blinked in confusion at suddenly being addressed by the girl, and a bit dazed at the very same girl’s lovely accent. 

“Got a pharmacy run. You in?” She asks while quirking her head. 

“Uh…” He splutters an unintelligible gospel of gibberish, which only confused the girl much to his dismay. 

Luckily, or was it unluckily, Dale ceased the moment to bring something up. “Miss,” Dale came interrupting them. “What’s the water situation in here?”   


Glenn felt relief slowly ebbing through his chest when Maggie regarded the elderly man. “Got fie wells on our land. House draws directly from number one,” she points at the respected spots, “There’s number two which is right over there. we use it for the cattle, but it’s just as pure. Take what you need. There’s a cart and containers in the generator shed behind the house.” 

Dale nodded in response. Maggie took that moment to look at the asian boy once again.

“I’ll go saddle your horse then,” she says before walking away from the two men.

“Wha? Wha-What does she mean by saddling up my horse?” Glenn looked at Dale who he thought held every answer in the book but the man just shrugs!

So that’s where he found himself doing after discussing with both Rick and Shane, who pressed a gun against his chest and told him to fire when necessary. Freaked out a bit, Glenn cleared his mind by going around the farm taking a few slips of paper from anyone needing anything. He was just about done after talking with Harry for a few minutes about the state of their food supply, when he noticed Amy sitting around the garden looking at the chickens as they simply waddled past them.

“Hey Amy!” He greets with a tip of his hat. The blonde regarded him with an amused expression.

“What up cowboy?” Amy bows her head slightly.

Glenn snorted. “Need anything? I’m going out on a run.” He asks.

“Hmm…” Amy tapped her chin contemplatively. “Normally I would have everything with me in my purse, but I no longer have that luxury. Haha… Just to be safe, could you get my tubes?”

“Tubes?” Glenn was confused.    


“My tubes…” Amy continues with an awkward, “for my lady day.”

Getting the hint, Glenn’s face immediately colored to a soft pink. Noticeable and quite cute in Amy’s opinion. “Oh… oh!” Glenn bowed his head down flustered. “Uh… uhm… alright, uh…”

Amy snorted. She decided to put Glenn out of his stuttering misery with a pat on the back. “I can always ask someone else. Who else is goin’ with you? It isn’t safe out there to be alone, you know.” 

Glenn shook his head. “Uhm, uh…. Ah, Maggie, Maggie’s the one going with me. You know, Hershel’s daughter.”

“The brown-haired one with the short hair?” Amy raised a brow. “Is she reliable?”

“She got us here, didn’t she?” Glenn shrugged his shoulder. “I think she can be trusted, Ames.”   


Amy sighed, raising her hands in the air as a sign of surrender. “I’m just askin’ Glenn, no need to worry about anything. Just… be safe, alright?” She threw herself off the table and landed on her feet, dusting off the imaginary dust off of her shirt and jeans she was currently wearing. “Anyway, I better go find something to do. It's a little tight in there when you have Lori trying to butt her head with Harry and being surrounded by strangers just doesn’t bode well with me anymore.” 

“I get it, I get it… uh, I’ll ask Maggie if she could get you some of your lady things, alright? I think she’ll know more about it than I do…” Glenn stopped in his tracks. “Wait, where did you say Lori was?”

“In the house, you’ll always find her…” Amy didn’t finish when she noticed Glenn walking away. Sighing, Amy walked towards the opposite direction, her head down. “I wanted  _ you  _ to get it, though…” She mutters under her breath. 

Meanwhile with Glenn, he walked in on Lori hovering over Harry watching his every move. “Why is he still in bed? You said he’ll be able to walk today, why is he still in bed?”   


Glenn watched Harry’s expression morph into one of irritation instantly. “He’s healing. Unless you want me to wake him up?” 

Lori was about to say something, probably something scathing, before Glenn interrupted with a nervous smile. “Uh… uh, anyone need anything?”   


Harry regarded the tentative asian boy with a smile. He shook his head after a few awkward moments. “No, there’s nothing I currently need. Thank you for asking. Now, if I may? I have a patient to attend.” He shooed them away with a bat of his hand possibly to infuriate Lori even further.

God how did he not notice their doctor was very petty? 

Lori gave the man a venomous glare and a loud scoff before trudging out of the room with a worried Glenn walking with her.   
  
She turns to him. “Give me a few to write up my list and I’ll give it to you, alright?” She says a bit irritably. 

Glenn nodded nervously before scampering off outside the house. Amy was right, the room was suffocating. 

~

“What are you doin’ here, Lori?” Shane didn’t like the look on her face when she strode towards him from the house. He just got back from checking on the boy after he spent some time with Harry, then joined with everyone at the little map they were all congregated around. Now, after a really nice shower, Shane just donned on a new shirt and walked out of the RV ready to practice at the target range when he noticed Lori stalking after him like a predator locked on their prey. “Y’know, you wonder why people doesn’t really talk to you with that look on your face.”

“Shut it, cowboy.” Lori growled. “Sorry, sorry,” She calmed herself down by breathing in and out. It amazed Shane how this particular woman could switch her emotions as if it's a light switch. “That man keeps on insisting Harry should keep on checking on my son when we have a perfectly Christian old man. He even has medical experience unlike that - that boy!” 

“Well that ‘boy’ you so kindly spoke of  saved _ your _ boy’s life. It wasn’t Hershel, plus Hershel’s a vet; he takes care of animals, big animals.” He recalled, raising a brow at the woman. 

Lori scoffed. “Since when did you start riding that boy’s dick?”

Shane looked disgusted for a second. Imagining Harry as a little kid isn’t his pass time, nor is it any time ‘cause that shit is disgusting! “The fuck? You make me sound like a pedo, Lori.” 

“Watch your mouth around me, Shane.” Lori pointed her finger at Shane who was tempted to bite that finger off. “And you know what I mean. When were you this accepting? You’re not like this, you were never like this! Every new person you were skeptic. Now you’re just at everyone’s beck and call as if you’re suddenly everyone’s best friend! The guy came in like weeks before and all he ever brought to the table was your guns.”

  
“Which helped us get here, am I right? He also helped Jim with his delusional problems and look where he is today, ain’t diggin’ any holes in someone else’s backyard! And if it wasn’t for him, Lori, what would have happened to Sophia? Carl? That’s right, they’ll be dead! Give it up, Lori. Stop trying to make him seem like a bad guy when you’re already diggin’ that hole for yourself.” Shane vehemently explained with a twitching eyebrow. For a few seconds he felt himself calm when his eyes descended on a worry looking Harry in the back of the woman, then he regarded Lori with a glare. “What have  _ you  _ exactly done other than complain, Lori? You should be askin’ that other than insulting others behind their backs What have  _ you  _ done exactly?”

“Oh ho, you did not just go there with me, Shane. Says the guy who said my husband was dead, look where that got us!” Shane snorted.

“Yet you were willing to spread your legs for him as if nothing happened with us.” 

Shane knew at that very moment he went too far but his rage overcame any tact he learned from his mama. He wasn’t surprised when the words streamed from his mouth, it left a stinging cheek as a response. Usually he would fire back, but one hand stayed at his side and one was pressed against the cheek Lori slapped. For a few moments they were left in complete, tense silence. Then it was shattered when Harry finally opened his mouth.

“Uhm… Rick is asking for you guys, and if you don’t mind, Carl is as well. He’s ready to embrace nature once more.” Harry bowed his head slightly before scampering off to who knows where. 

Shane made to follow the doctor before Lori grabbed his arms. “We’re not done talking, you hear me?” Shane snorted at the woman as she stomped out of his peripheral in seconds.

“We are done talking, bitch.” Shane muttered before following their resident doctor’s trail.

~

“Hello, farmer’s daughter…” Glenn mutters. He can admit to the fact he was being a bit too obsessive and stalkerish to be using binoculars in order to spy on the woman he is  interested in. But it all came to an end when someone deliberately stepped in front of his line of sight. With protest on the tip of his tongue, he bit it when Lori looked at him with those judgy eyes she always had. 

“Hi. here’s your list,” Lori says while handing him a slip of paper. Glenn accepted it nervously, looking at Lori between glances. “And there’s one oter item,” Lori adds with another slip of paper in the other hand. “I wrote it down separately. It’s… personal. If we could be real discreet about that, I would appreciate it okay?”  
  
Glenn wanted to raise an eyebrow but Lori gave him one stern glare. “Sure…” Glenn cleared his throat and nodded. “Uh… what is it?”

“Kind of missing the point of the whole discreet thing, Glenn.” She points out with a sharpened tone.

“Oh right…” He says awkwardly, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. “I just need to know where to find it…”   


“Try the feminine hygiene section,” Lori looked away.

“Oh… okay…”

~

“Oh Merlin’s saggy tits, what in the actual hell is that?” 

At the time, Glenn and Maggie didn’t set off yet, so everyone was still at the camp. Some were, however, inside and majority of them were tending to the farmer’s harvest. Halfway through their surprisingly popular firing range, Dale and T-Dog came running saying there was something everyone needed to take a look at immediately. Almost instantly, they lead them to one of the wells on the land Maggie had pointed out before.

Leering over the stone wall, Shane’s eyes crinkled in disgust while Jim still had that dark look on his face Harry observed before. There, in the well, was the most hideous walker anyone has ever seen. Shane was positive it’s been swimming in those waters since this shit started and no one noticed it until now, until it grew literal gills. This one topped many when it comes to being fucking ugly. Everyone pulled a disgusted grimace at the thing swimming in the now tainted water. The thing was still snarling at them, grabbing at them uselessly. 

“How long do you think it’s been down there?” Glenn asks conversationally, neve minding the bead of sweat dripping down his cheek.

“Long enough to grow goddamn gills.” Was what someone says from the back of Shane, but the man didn’t bother turning.

“We can’t leave it in there. God knows what it’s doing to the water…”   


“We got to get it out, easy.” Shane says as if it answered all their problems. T-Dog seemed to agree.

“Put a bullet in its head. I’ll get a rope,” T-Dog suggested, making to leave before Maggie stopped him.  
  
“Whoa, whoa, guys,” Maggie protested with her arms halting them. “No!”

“Why not?” Glenn looked confused. “It’s a good plan…”

“It’s a stupid plan,” Andrea shook her head. “If that thing hasn’t contaminated the water yet, blowing its brains out will finish the job.”   


“They are basically walking masses of dead tissue and decomposition material, so just touching the water might’ve already contaminated it…” Harry suggested. “We could try purifying it after getting it out with something to wash it out… But the problem is this walker. We can’t just keep it in there.” 

“That’s the problem Har, how’re we going to go about getting this damn thing out?” Shane cringed at the creature in the well again. “Damn thing’s bloated as fuck, can give Otis a run for his money.” He mutters under his breath. Harry heard the insult and nudged his rib cage. 

“That was unnecessary.” Harry whispered before regarding the others. 

After their little moment, they decided to try baiting the walker with canned ham like a fish to a line; a dark type of fishing Harry wagers. But the walker wasn’t interested, it ignored the bait entirely. It was distracted by the talking flesh in front of its eyes to even notice the wasted canned meat they had stored. Then they came up with the most stupidest plan Harry has ever heard in his entire life. Glenn was going to be the bait.

“What?!” Glenn exclaims. “Wh-why me?”   


“I agree, we could find another way.” Harry rebuked hastily. “It's too stupid, plus dangerous.”

Harry could possible levitate the walking corpse with a simple levitation charm, but he doesn’t know if the amount of water weight the body in the well has accumulated might hinder the process. Because if he went about with the spell, he might split the corpse’s body open or, even worse, spill the guts into the water. Again, he’d rather not do anything that might garner suspicion in the group but Harry really wanted to keep drinking clean water from the tap. Additionally, he doesn’t want to make matters worse so all he could think of was just burning the corpse with Fiendfyre, but even that is too flashy.  
  
“I agree! I agree! And-and don’t I have anything to say about being the live bait?!” 

“This is the only choice…” Shane shrugged. “Unless you don’t wanna drink clean water, Glenn?”

“I-I do, but does it gotta be me? Un-Unless you have another plan,” Glenn looks at Harry hopefully. 

Harry shook his head when Shane shot him a warning look, so, instead, he drew his attention to the bloated walker swimming in the well. “Merlin’s beard are you horrendous.”

Everyone chuckled at him. 

“Well, if there’s no more protest. We got a walker to kick out!” Shane shrugged his shoulders straightening himself. 

He tied a rope around Glenn wile the boy sat on the edge of the well, looking worse for wear. It reminded of the time he agreed to dive straight into the pipelines back at the department store. But much worse. 

“Have I mentioned that I really like your new haircut? You have a nice shaped head.” Glenn says to Shane, looking at him with desperation in his eyes. 

Harry snorted from the back of them, which got a glare from Shane.

“Don’t worry about it bud,” he pats the nervous boy’s shoulders with a hard clap. “We’re gonna get you out of there in one piece, you hear me?”

“Living piece. That living part is important,” Glenn reminds them cautiously with a point of his fingers.   


“Ready?” 

“Nice and slow… nice and slow, please.” Glenn told them as he slowly descended in the well.

“We got you,” Andrea calls out.

“You people are crazy…” Maggie moans out when they started baiting the walker with Glenn constantly kicking at it to draw its attention.

“You want to get it out of your well or not?” Shane asks the nervous looking girl before looking back at the boy. “Glenn, you good?”  
  
“I’m slowly descending into a fat geek’s swimming pool, how do you think I feel?!” 

“Good point,” Shane snorts. 

The first try did not go well. The pump they used as a counterweight in order to descend Glenn into the well almost broke when he finally reached the walker. Harry, being Harry, didn’t think about the consequences of letting the rope go to quickly undo the damage with a flick of his wrist. Shane had to haul the rope back when Glenn started shouting in fright when the rope descended quicker than he imagined. Harry realized this and soon followed Shane after a few seconds until Glenn was far enough away from the walker. Fortunately, everyone was still distracted by the fact they almost lost Glenn to realize something supernatural was going on.

‘What the-”   


“Don’t question it, we gotta get Glenn out now!” Shane ordered. 

This time more of the women standing around joined the fray by pulling the rope. Harry kept a keen eye on the water pump in the meantime in case it snapped in half again with all the weight thrusted upon it. Fortunately, not a moment too soon, a scared Glenn climbed out of the well with his hands and knees placed against the grassy floor when he successfully got out. 

“Are you okay?” Maggie asks as she checked on the poor boy.

“Back to the drawing board I guess,” Dale quips after analyzing Glenn. 

Harry was also looking but there wasn’t anything a body cannot heal on its own. 

“Oh shit!” Shane exclaims garnering the attention from everyone surrounding Glenn. “How the fuck-”   
  
“What, Shane?” T-Dog asks.   
  
“How the hell did he manage- Everyone pull!” 

Everyone did indeed pulled, but Dale was quick to point out that the walker was stuck on something which proved right when Harry took a peak at the well. The rope slightly ripped the walker preventing it from moving any further without ripping the entire body apart. No longer pulling with all his strength, Harry focused his magic on the lower half of the walker’s body. His intent was to prevent the body from ripping apart, which would render all of their efforts useless. Somewhat, he still needed a way to purify the water in secret in the meantime. 

It seemed to work when the walker popped out of the well. It tried standing up but T-Dog was quick to bash its head with a crowbar, leaving a few disgusted looks from the patrons surrounding the well. 

“Fuck… who’s cleaning this up?” T-Dog looked around.  
  
Everyone chuckled at T-Dog. 

“At least we can use the water now, right?” Glenn looked at Harry for an answer. Everyone followed after, but a few left to deal with the bloated walker.

Harry simply shook his head.

“We got it out, Har.” Shane says. “Why can’t we use it?”   


“Do you want to drink something a dead corpse has been swimming in for who knows how long?” Harry quirked his head. Everyone grimaced in response. “I’d suggest cleaning this well, purifying it.”   


“How?” Dale asks.

Now that, Harry doesn’t know…

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be much more updates! I am finally inspired! And thank you all for your marvelous supports and the kudos and the comments and the bookmarks and the subscriptions. You guys are flipping awesome! Hope to read more of your support, your reviews, and seeing the lovely little notification I get in my email when someone new kudos my stories! It really warms me up inside <3 Anyway have a marvelous rest of your day~ 
> 
> Cheers!

**Author's Note:**

> Do what you want. Continue reading or stop. Idk.


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